


The King's Prince {Season 1 in process}

by KingSaturnz



Series: Lengthy 10000+ Fics for Your Daily Dose of Slow Burn [1]
Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alliances, Broken Families, Daddy Kink, Dark Comedy, Dreams and Nightmares, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Family Drama, Family Issues, Friends to Enemies, Friends to Lovers, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Main couple is Jeff/EJ, Masturbation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Trauma, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Unrequited Love, implied sucide attempt, oaths of blood, the rest are side couples, yandere! Slender Man
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2020-09-24 05:09:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 40,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20352904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingSaturnz/pseuds/KingSaturnz
Summary: "What are you doing?" Jack asked as he watched Jeff intently staring at him weirdly."Glaring at you.""How can you glare when you have no eyelids?""How can you see when you have no eyes?"━─━─━━─━「₪」━━─━─━─━Jeffrey Woods has sadly been recognized as "The King's Prince" due to Slender Man having a sick and perverted fascination with him. However, when he was in a failed kidnapping by Eyeless Jack, against his better judgement (not that he had any to begin with) teams up with him to make Slender's life hell. That is until he fell in the horrendous carousel called "love" and it seems that he is not the only one trapped in this ride.





	1. A Cannibal and A Killer Make A Deal

**Author's Note:**

> **Hello, this is my attempt to make a lengthy fic for my favorite ship: JeffJack along with others. This took me 3 days to write as my goal was 10 000 word count and well, I hope you enjoy! **

If there was something that Jeff was afraid of, despite the fact that he was a cold-blooded killer, it was of the tall monster known as Slender Man. Now, considering the silly and uncreative as fuck name such a monster was given, the fact remained that he was _ petrified _of the tall being. And you would think: "but Jeff! You are such a badass killer and are so handsome and stronger than anybody uwu" Though if you didn't think that, thank god. Jeff has dealt with hormonal teens wanting to suck his dick even though he was a serial killer.

Then again, there are people with a few loose screws who actually "_ fall in love _ " and go so far as to justify a serial killer's action. "So long as he is handsome," muttered Jeff with a scowl as he remembered some girls fawn over Ted Bundy when the Netflix series came out. However, it was thanks to Bundy's " _ influence _" after death that Jeff's victims were easier to target and manipulate. But, he digress and… what were we talking about again? Oh right, Slender Man.

Slender Man was like the Devil for Jeff. He had sweet talked him into living with him and his proxies to a weird abandoned mansion in the woods. Although Jeff was only fifteen when he was offered that deal, even back then Jeff could clearly see the sickening and perverted fascination Slender had with him.

"I'm home," Jeff said as he finally managed to get back to the small apartment next to the woods of said monster. Another raven haired male popped his head out of the kitchen and nodded in acknowledgement at his flatmate.

"How was your day?"

"Awful, as always."

"Slender tried to make a move on you again?"

Jeff shook his head and plopped on the couch. "Nah, I didn't see him at all."

"Your fangirls then."

"Yep, three of them," Jeff said as he tiredly looked at his flatmate. "I left a fucking mess, so I'll have to go incognito again."

Jeff's flatmate nodded and returned to the kitchen. "Sucks to be you!" He called out. Jeff groaned in annoyance.

"What about you Helen?" Jeff asked as he laid down on the couch, taking off his shoes and rested his legs on the couch. "Anything interesting?"

Helen sighed so loudly Jeff heard it all the way from the living room. "My victim got stolen, again."

"Damn, was it that Johnny guy?"

"Indeed," Helen said as he put down two plates of spaghetti. "Dinner is ready by the way."

Jeff whined as he was too comfortable on the couch, but his stomach was empty and crying. "Spaghetti, huh?" Jeff said as he sat down and started to dig in. Helen nodded, his stoic face remaining, but through the years, Jeff knew that internally his… _ comrade, _was smiling.

"I'm surprised though," Helen said with his hand covering his mouth as he chewed spaghetti and then swallowed. "Slender didn't annoy you at all?"

"I prefer you not jinxing my luck, but yes, no sign of Creepy McCreeps."

"Why did you accepted his deal if you hate him that much?"

Jeff groaned annoyed as he ate the spaghetti and almost finished the glass of water. "Look man, I was almost dead! I ran away at 12 years old and for 3 fucking years I was on the streets trying to survive."

"Okay, okay," Helen said, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief. "But still."

"It's not like he offered to let me live in exchange of me letting him touch me and I didn't want to die, so I accepted."

"If that is the case, why are you here with me?"

Jeff stopped his movements, mouth still open and spoon full of spaghetti. He closed his mouth and put the spoon down. "I couldn't deal with him and his proxies anymore. Besides, Toby and Tim were such a pain to be around… I feel sorry for Brian."

"Right," Helen said with a tiny smirk. "So, you got jealous of Toby and Tim's relationship, yes?"

Jeff glared at his friend. "Shut it."

Helen chuckled. "Alright, finish your spaghetti then," Jeff didn't need to be told twice and finished what was left of the delicious pasta. Huh, Jeff felt as though he somehow made a lame ass pun indirectly… but he couldn't be sure and helped Helen with the dishes.

"So, about Johnny."

Helen groaned. "Do not mention that name in my presence." Both of them moved to the bar stool connecting the kitchen and living room.

"Yeah, whatever, how did he even know who your next victim was and steal it? You didn't even told me who it was!"

Helen shrugged. "That fucker must somehow be tracking me." 

Before Jeff could say anything, the TV turned itself on and a blond elf was getting out of it The Ring style. "Hello bitches, missed me?"

"**Hi Ben**" both killers greeted. Ben chuckled and walked towards them. Despite what Jeff had seen on some of his "fans" walls, Ben was actually taller than what they draw him to be. He was a few inches shorter than Jeff, but he did not look like a kid anymore. In fact, he upgraded to look like young adult Link.

"How's my brother doing?" Jeff asked and Helen looked at his flatmate surprised.

Ben also had a surprised look, but smiled lazily as per usual. "He still wants to kill you if that's what you're wondering."

Jeff sighed. "Of course," Helen and Ben exchanged a look.

"Well, I mean, Sasuke ended up forgiving Itachi right?" Ben said, trying to cheer his friend up. Helen raised an eyebrow at the elf.

"Did he?"

Ben shrugged. "I stopped watching midway on Shippuden and have not read the manga, though I did see a few images of adult Sasuke back in Konoha with a daughter! I wonder if he adopted her or something."

"Dude, what?"

Ben blinked. "What?" And it was then that Jeff knew he was in for a weeb talk that he will not understand even if he had been forced to watch Evangelion. 

"That's Sasuke's actual daughter."

"What!? But I thought he and Naruto-"

"Are you a Fundanshi or something?"

"Then who did Naruto ended up with?"

"Duh, Hinata obviously"

"Hinata!? ** _Hinata!?_ ** She was better off with Kiba, the fuck?"

Helen shrugged. "She did love Naruto, though."

"But he didn't give a damn! He was kinda like Ichigo with Orihime! Don't tell me Kishimoto did the same shit as Kubo."

"I guess he did."

"No way! Why are these mangakas playing fucking God!? If two characters have good chemestry then put them together for fuck's sake! You ain't fooling anybody with your: bitch you thought."

Helen rolled his eyes. "Number one, Sasuke needed to revive the clan so even if he was gay he needed to surpress it for the clan."

"Fuck the clan! I- you… ugh! I can't even speak! What about two then, huh?"

"I was going to say something about Naruto being Hokage, but he pretty much fulfilled his goal. I mean, with or without a wife, he would have right?"

Ben huffed. "How should I know?"

"Isn't being Hokage like being a president? You don't have to be married to be in presidency."

"Yet, most if not all presidents have been married with kids."

"Well yeah, okay, listen," Helen said, leaning closer to Ben. "Being married is not a requirement to be president."

"Are you two done with your weeb talk?" Jeff asked annoyed. Both Helen and Ben turned to look at him, one smirking playfully and the other looking almost offended.

"You have watched some anime too!"

"** _Some _ **anime, not the whole damn industry or whatever!" Jeff exclaimed. "Besides, whoever Naruto or the other fucker ended up with will not change no matter how much you whine and bitch about it. What's done is done."

Ben and Helen sighed. "You don't get it!" Ben pouted and Helen nodded in agreement with Ben. "Perhaps I should lend you my Bleach collection."

Jeff rolled his eyes. "No thanks, from the sound of it, I wouldn't enjoy it."

"It's not bad! It's just this one character-"

"I don't care! Both of them are shounen for fuck's sake! You wanna read a good romance? Read the female equivalent of that stuff."

"You mean Shoujo?" 

"Whatever that shit is," Jeff said and leaned away from the bar stool to get himself another glass of water. "Anyway, why are you here? Besides updating me in my brother's well being."

Ben smiled lazily again. "To hang out, obviously! We don't do that much and it's just us three musketeers!" 

"We wish we could hang out right now," Helen said with a sigh as Jeff walked back to the bar stool with his glass of water in hand. "But we are not in the mood."

Ben's smile dropped. "What happened now?"

"Fangirls."

"Johnny."

Helen and Jeff said at the same time. Ben glanced at the older Woods. "You have to go incognito again," Jeff nodded and Ben glanced at Helen. "And your victim got stolen, again."

Helen sighed dramatically. "Sadly, it was." Ben sighed as well and a sour silence befell the musketeers.

"This day sucks," Jeff said before taking a long gulp from his water. The three friends that won't admit are friends moved to the living room and Helen turned on the TV.

"Open cable or Netflix?"

"**Netflix**," Jeff and Ben said. Helen nodded and went to the netflix option before selecting his account.

"Funny how you two have a smart TV."

"Why is that funny?"

"We are killers dude and here we are living in luxury than most," Ben said. Helen looked around for something to watch while Jeff hummed in thought.

"I guess you're right."

"I always am," Ben said. Helen opted for putting a horror movie called _ Cabin Fever _ , but for the three ** _heartless_ ** guys, it never scared them. Not that horror movies have been good these past few years, in their opinion, it just went downhill. With nothing else to do, they just watched the movie and made fun of it until dawn.

* * *

Jeff abruptly woke up and complete darkness welcomed him. He took off his sleeping mask and reached for the special eye drop Slender got him. Not really wanting to, he got up from his cozy bed and walked out of his room on his boxers. Helen's bedroom door was closed and Ben was still sleeping on the couch.

"What a boring day it will be," Jeff mumbled and noticed it was past noon and went to the kitchen to see what he could heat up and eat.

"Morning."

"It's afternoon now."

"Is there any difference?" Helen's raspy voice asked as his tired blue eyes stared at Jeff's. Jeff shrugged and decided to make himself a cereal and Helen, being lazy like Jeff, made himself one too. 

Ben shifted in his sleep and then abruptly woke up as he gasped loudly. "What time is it!?"

Jeff glanced at the clock in the kitchen, but it was an analog clock and he has no idea how to read it. Yes everyone, Jeff was twenty-two years old and still couldn't read an analog clock. "Um…"

"It's five to one."

"_ Shit _!" He shouted and scrambled up the couch. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a box of cereal. He poured some directly onto his mouth before putting the box down and grabbing the milk and doing the same. He swallowed everything in one go and hugged his friends."Hopefully I'll see you later, bye!" He said in a hurried tone and straight up jump into the TV.

Jeff hummed in thought. Somewhere in the back of his head told Jeff that something was going on, but he wasn't quite sure what exactly it was and like always, opted to ignore it. "So, you going out?"

"Yep," Helen said as he mindlessly finished his cereal. "We are running out of eggs, cereal and milk. So while I'm gone, do the grocery list and _ go buy them _."

Jeff scoffed. "Why me?"

"Who is going incognito this time?"

Jeff groaned. "**Fine**."

"Thank you very much," Helen said as he stood up and put the dishes in the dishwasher. "I'm going to shower first."

"Fine by me," Jeff said and finished his cereal. After washing the dishes, he sat on the couch and turned on the TV. He wanted to see if the news spoke about him and so put CNN on. Indeed, they were talking about him and Jeff smiled proudly at his work, but frowned as he made a rushed mess and had to go incognito. "Fucking crazy ass bitches."

After a while, Helen was already dressed with mask in hand. "See you later, Jeff."

"See ya," He said and waved at his friend. When the news started to talk about something else, he turned off the TV and got up to shower or else he will go by stinking like shit. Unlike Helen, Jeff liked to shower with cold water even if it was winter. After the refreshing shower and putting on a dark blue shirt on this time with black pants, he headed to the kitchen and begrudgingly made a grocery list. 

"Fuck this one's stained!" Jeff exclaimed as he picked up his signature white hoodie covered in blood. Sighing, he grabbed a black sweater, a black beanie and a cover mouth. Putting his hair in a low ponytail, he grabbed the keys and walked out of the apartment with list in hand. Of course, the first thing he saw and made Jeff not totally scream was a bouquet of roses on the doorstep. "God _ damn it _!" He growled and grabbed the bouquet. He glanced at the forest and without mercy throw them in the trash while glaring.

The nearest grocery store was only twenty minutes by foot and Jeff enjoyed the cold air December brought him. He went over the list one last time and sighed in annoyance. Twenty minutes and a fight for the freshest meat with an old lady Jeff was almost done with grocery. As he walked around the isle where the ice cream was, he bumped into a doctor. 

"Oh my bad," Jeff said devoid of sympathy. The doctor in question had peculiar red eyes and offered him a closed smile. 

"It's fine, I wasn't looking."

"Bye, then," Jeff said dryly as he continued and found the cookies 'n cream ice cream he was looking for. He glanced at where the doctor had been but was nowhere in sight. Shrugging, Jeff went to pay for the stuff and walked out of the shop with three bags on each of his hands. "I can't wait to go back to my couch."

However, the last thing Jeff remembered before darkness consumed his vision was the doctor standing in front of him smiling wide and pointy teeth showing. His last thought, however, was: _ oh fuck, I forgot the eggs _.

* * *

_ Welcome to Jeff's dreamland, may I take your order? In this dream, Jeff was hanging out with his friends laughing and having fun and then, a shadow figure is coming towards them. Who is that figure? Could it be? _ ** _Could it be?_ **

_ "Liu?" Jeff called out and the image of his brother coming to him with a smile that was clearer than crystal. However, when Liu opened his mouth, instead of a: 'yes, brother?' He said. _

_ "Who the fuck is Liu?" _

_ Jeff gasped. _

_ "Anyway, wake the fuck up!" Liu said and raised his hand to slap him. This is the end of Jeff's dreamland, kindly fuck off now. _

Jeff let out a whine as he awakened and try to adjust his vision with the dimly lit room. "What? Where the fuck am I?"

"Does it matter?" A husky and deep voice asked. Jeff felt his body tensed up and as adrenaline kicked in, he tried to move, but his wrist and ankles were tied to a chair. 

"Wow, ain't this cliché, eh?"

"It's the easiest to do."

"And the easiest to fuck up."

Jeff heard his kidnapper snicker and he felt annoyed already. "You never give in, do you?"

"I would rather die than give in," Jeff said. His kidnapper chuckled and stepped closer to Jeff, the few lights that illuminated the room helped Jeff to see his kidnapper's face. But as his luck would have it, he was wearing a blue mask and a black shirt with brown pants and black shoes. "Is that mask some sort of kink of yours?" He said unimpressed.

"Not really," the kidnapper said. "I use it mainly to hide my identity."

"Right, like I care who you might fucking be."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Jeff nodded. "You can be the president for all I care, whatever it is you want to take out of me, you will never have it."

The kidnapper let out a single laugh and Jeff felt… no, he _ knew _ his kidnapper was smirking. "You are interesting, ** _Jeffrey_ **"

Jeff shudder in disgust as the kidnapper called out his name. It was like Slender Man all over again. "Ugh, not you too!"

The kidnapper tilted his head to the side and Jeff caught a glimpse of dark brown hair. "Excuse me?"

"You wanna fuck me too? Dude," Jeff eyed him. I mean, he had good built from Jeff's perspective. He wasn't gay… at least he thought he wasn't. But, if he compared him to Slender… "Well, at least you don't have tentacles."

The kidnapper was silent for a minute. "Did you just… Did you seriously considered to let me fuck you if that was the case?"

"Oh don't get me wrong, I would put up a fight, but between you and Slender… you seem decent enough," Jeff said with a shrug. "No homo though."

There was silence for a second before the kidnapper bursted out laughing. "Oh shit," he said and Jeff felt a little concerned at the black liquid rolling down his kidnapper's mask eyes. "You really are something, huh?"

"Get to the point already! What do you want from me then?"

"Well you see, you and Slender are together, yes?"

Jeff stare incredulous at his kidnapper and now it was his turn to laugh. "Holy fuck! I know I'd kind of let you fuck me, but that was such a great joke."

"What?"

"Oh, you can't possible believe that, can you?" Jeff asked, leaning his head closer to his kidnapper. However, at the deafening silence Jeff's smile disappear. "You actually believe that?"

The kidnapper groaned in frustration and massaged his right temple. "So then… what-"

"He's just infatuated with me like the pervert he is, but my butt is still a virgin thank you very much!" Jeff said calmly, as if he wasn't kidnapped.

"Is that why they called you _ The King's Prince _?"

Jeff scoffed at the nickname. "God, who came up with that? But yes, if you had done your research, you would know that I have always rejected any moves from him dingus!"

"First of all, who even says dingus anymore? Second, you fucking live with him!-"

"**_Correction, _ **I used to, but I live with Helen AKA Bloody fucking Painter now."

The kidnapper let out another groan in frustration and Jeff secretly enjoyed it. "At least tell me that if you went missing for one day he would get pissed and try to look for you."

"Oh definitely."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Jeff said, leaning his head back as he was getting tired. "So what exactly do you plan to do with me anyway? Exchange me for money?"

"Money is not what I care about the most," the kidnapper said, pulling a chair in front of Jeff and sitting in it with the back facing the pale killer. "What I want is something deeper."

Jeff snickered. "His asshole?" The kidnapper's gaze was evident for Jeff that he was annoyed as Jeff lamely giggled at his own joke.

"Very funny," the kidnapper said. "I'm not going to go into details, but it's something more on an emotional level."

Jeff stared at him. "So, you want to make him angry?"

The kidnapper looked at Jeff surprised. "I-well… yeah, basically."

Jeff nodded in thought. "Sounds fair enough."

The kidnapper stared at Jeff for a while before clearing his throat. "I guess, I'll go now?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"No, I-"

"What's your name anyway?"

"Why should I tell you that?"

"You know my name, it's not fair that I do not know yours! At least a nickname man."

The kidnapper sighed. "Eyeless Jack," he said and that named sounded familiar to Jeff. "But you can call me Jack."

"Alright," Jeff said and looked up at his captor. "Now, where the fuck is the grocery I had with me?"

* * *

When Helen arrived home by eight, the apartment was awfully quiet. Not only that, but the lights were turned off. Being with Jeff through the years, he knew that when Jeff undergo incognito he was always up with the lights on lazing around on the couch. 

"Jeff?" Helen called out and waited a solid ten minutes before turning the lights on. He checked the apartment and nothing seemed out of the ordinary; he opened the fridge. "There are no groceries…" he whispered and then closed it. He grabbed his keys and bolted out of the apartment. " **This is bad,**" he said through gritted teeth.

* * *

Jack circled around Jeff, eyeing the killer in great detail. "Why is he so obsessed with you?" He asked. Normally, Jeff would have felt offended by the question, but he himself doesn't even ** _want _ **the attention Slender gave him.

"Fuck if I know!" Jeff scoffed. Jack stood in front of Jeff, taking notice of the self inflicted wound Jeff had made that was slowly healing. Disregarding any respect for personal space, Jack grabbed Jeff's chin with one hand while the other caressed the large scar on his left side.

"Hmmm, your wound seems to be healing pretty well," Jack said, staring down at Jeff and his thumb lightly brushed against the corner of Jeff's lips, feeling a little bit of the muscle that the skin had yet to heal. "Interesting."

Jeff glared at him as Jack stopped touching his face. "So you ** _really _ **are a pervert after all."

"No, I was just fascinated by how your wounds are healing."

"Sounds like a pervert to me."

Jack sighed. "I ** _am _ **a doctor."

"So? How does that justify your weird actions?" Jeff asked annoyed. Jack took a deep breath and decided to ignore the pale killer. "Can you let me out already? I should have been home by now with the groceries."

"No."

Jeff groaned. "You're just wasting your time!"

Jack pulled back the chair and sat down again. "How so?"

Jeff glanced at him before smirking. "Because you will fail of course!"

* * *

Helen sighed in semi-relief when the GPS installed in Jeff's beanie signaled Jeff's location in an abandoned hospital that was no longer under Slender's Jurisdiction. However, he couldn't help but worry as that hospital was under ** _Zalgo's _ **jurisdiction. 

  
"_God damn it Jeff _!" He hissed.

* * *

Jeff was starting to get bored and his arms felt numb, but he had to endure it for a little while longer. Jeff knew Helen wouldn't just sit around and wait for Jeff to come back when he knows how he acts whenever he goes incognito. 

"You are interesting, I'll give you that," Jack said as he was, once again, standing up. "But you can't possibly be _ this _smart."

_ People will always underestimate you, Jeff _Ben's words from a distant past resonated on his head. Jeff grinned. "I am no genius," he started. "But I am not as dumb as my fans think I am."

Jack raised an eyebrow in confusion and before he could speak, the doctor that Jeff saw on the supermarket had burst through the doors. "Jackie! We got a problem."

Jack blinked and looked back at Jeff with great surprise. "What did you do?"

"Me? Nothing," Jeff shrugged. "But Helen knows when I go missing, so, the groceries?"

Jack ignored the last comment and turned back to his friend. "Smiley, what's the situation?"

"There is a young lad breaking in and threatening to call Slender if we don't give him back," Smiley explained as he pointed at Jeff. Jack sighed and glanced back at Jeff.

"I thought you said Slender would come find you if you are missing."

"Only if he saw it."

"Then why didn't you say something!?"

Jeff shrugged again. "You never asked. Besides, you could have sent a note to him and that would have worked too."

Jack was about to let out a groan of frustration, but a raven haired young man wearing a white mask with a red smile drawn on it broke in. "ALRIGHT YOU STUPID CUNTS!" 

"Hi Helen!" Jeff wanted to wave, but his wrists were tied and pouted. 

Helen ignored Jeff's greeting and pointed at Jack and Smiley. "Jeff is a picky eater, so if you wanted to keep him, he doesn't eat just anything. Also, he is a dumbass so whenever he gets sick-"

"HEY! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET RID OF ME AFTER ALL THESE YEARS I PROMISED TO WASH THE DISHES!?"

"FUCK OFF, IT'S JUST BEEN THREE YEARS!!"

Jeff dramatically scoffed and glanced away like the dramatic bitch he is. "I hope your next victim gets stolen again."

Jack glanced at Smiley confused and Smiley just burst out laughing. "Whatever, however, I'm afraid I'll have to get him back so if you could-"

"**_Why_ ** would you need him back?" Jack said in a dangerous tone as he glared at Helen and walked closer to him. 

"Because," Helen said nonchalantly. "I am still indebted to that idiot."

Jack was shocked. How could someone be indebted to Jeff The Killer, a notorious asshole who was more muscle than brains? _ I am no genius, but I'm not as dumb as my fans think I am _the words Jeff said repeated on Jack's mind and for the first time in years, he felt his chest tighten and glanced back at Jeff.

Jeff looked bored as he spaced out and waited to be "_rescued _". At least, that's what Jack thought. Jeff noticed his glance and smirked. "Told ya so."

Smiley, having long stopped laughing, was glaring at Helen with a twisted grin. "And what makes you think we'll-"

"Okay," Jack intervened and Smiley widened his eyes at Jack. "He's all yours."

Helen smiled mockingly under his mask. "Turns out I didn't need to use Slender as a threat, huh?" Helen put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "**Thank you for your understanding**," he said in a mocking tone. 

"Fucking finally!" Shouted Jeff as Helen walked towards him and untie his wrists. Jeff flinched as he lightly brushed against the burned marks of the rope and stretched his arms. 

"** _Jack_ ** ," Smiley hissed his name, trying to get his attention. However, Jack seemed _ distracted _by his own thoughts. When Jeff was finally free, he walked up to Jack. Jeff tilted his head to the side with a smirk.

"It was nice meeting ya! It's been a long time since I met someone who hates Slender as much as I do," Jeff patted the taller man on the shoulder and leaned closer to him. "** _Perhaps we'll meet again_ **." He said in an almost purr. 

Jack gulped unconsciously as he watched Jeff leave with Helen. When he was no longer in sight, he sighed. However, Jeff came back running and said: "Where is the grocery I bought!?" 

  
Jack chuckled and shook his head. _I can't believe I lost against _**_him _**He thought.

* * *

"I can't believe you got kidnapped," Helen said, setting some of the grocery bags on the kitchen counter. Jeff shrugged and put the rest on the dining table.

"Not the first time."

"_What does that even mean!? _" Helen hissed as he put his mask aside. Jeff just glanced to the side warily. 

"Yeah well, when I was 16 I got kidnapped by a bunch of gangsters so-"

"What the fuck Jeff!?"

"What?" Jeff looked at Helen annoyed. "I wouldn't have such a hard time if Slender decided to stop being such a creep to me!"

Helen sighed. "Not the point."

"Oh, I forgot the eggs by the way."

"Won't you worry about yourself a little!" 

Jeff sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

"Anyway, who was that guy?"

"Eye-something Jack."

Helen hummed in thought. "You mean, _ eyeless _?"

Jeff nodded as he started to put the groceries away. "Yeah, that."

"Wait… ** _Eyeless Jack!?_ **"

"You know him?"

"You don't!? He is the cannibal doc that left Slender and sided with Zalgo!" Helen exclaimed as he helped Jeff put the groceries out. Jeff stopped midway, somehow that sounded familiar.

"You can do that?"

"Do what?"

"Leave."

"Yeah, you can but-"

"Then what are we waiting for? We should leave!"

"It's not that easy, Jeff."

"Uh, yeah it is. You just walk away from that door and leave the area that belongs to Slender and that's it! It ain't that complicated."

"But it _ is _," Helen insisted as he sighed at the dumb decisions of his friend. "Look, we made an oath when accepting his deal and breaking that oath is not easy!"

Jeff leaned against the bar stool after finishing his task. "He really is like the devil."

"I guess so," Helen said with a shrug as he finished his side. "It's late as fuck, so let's continue talking tomorrow."

Jeff waited until Helen went inside his room before sitting on the one person couch and looking through the curtains at the dark sky. "I wonder what my brother is doing."

* * *

"What the fuck was that?" Jack glanced up to see his fellow doctor friend leaned against the door of his office. 

"Be more specific."

"You know what I'm talking about," said Smiley with an annoyed look on his face. Jack shrugged as he continued the crossword. 

"I underestimated him."

Smiley took a deep breath. "Is that why you gave him away so easily!?

"Pretty much."

"Are you dumb or something?"

"Look," Jack glanced at his friend. "I have my own reasons and besides, it wouldn't be the first time one of our plans fail."

Smiley glared at his friend. "It would have worked if you had kept him here."

Jack rested his chin on his left palm and smirked silently to himself. "Is that so?"

"So I'm asking you again, ** _what the fuck was that?_ **" 

"That, my friend," Jack said, looking at his mad friend with a bored expression. "Was an interesting _ Prince. _"

* * *

"I'm going out, don't forget to-"

"Buy eggs, yeah, yeah, I know," Jeff finished as he pushed Helen out the apartment. "Now hurry before that Johnny steals your victim again."

Helen was about to say something, but decided against it and hurriedly walked away. Jeff leaned against the door frame and watched his friend disappear. "Now, let's-"

"**Jeffrey**." Jeff tensed up and felt his whole body paralyzed. That deep and creepy voice inside his head resonated. Jeff felt an incoming headache and groaned as he clutched a hand on his head.

"**Stop that!**" Jeff shouted and the pain started to lessen. Jeff turned around with an annoyed look and saw the tall monster hovering in the middle of the living room. "What the fuck do you want?"

"**Language**."

Jeff snickered. "Get to the point already." Slender cautiously lifted his hand a little and tried to grab Jeff's left cheek, but the killer stepped away from his grasp. 

Slender sighed. "**There ** ** _is _ ** **no point, Jeffrey, I just wanted to see you**."

Jeff scoffed. "So you're here to get rejected again."

"**I love you, Jeffrey,** " Slender said in a dangerous tone. " **Why can't you see that? Have you fallen for someone other than me? ** ** _Is it Helen?_ **"

Jeff felt his whole body tense up and glanced around for a possible escape route. "Number one: I am not gay, Two: I do not love anyone but myself!" 

Slender felt a little irritated, how many years has he been ** _patient_ ** with Jeff? Three years might not seem like much but for Slender who has been ** _forcing _ ** himself to not do anything rash. " **I can not stand being without you Jeffrey** ," Slender said, putting one hand on his chest and the other trying to cup his face but the killer dodge him. " ** _Please come back to my mansion_ **."

**Red flags** . Jeff could sense a lot of them. " **No** ! I am fine where I am," he said in a scared and desperate tone. " **Just leave**."

The heavy atmosphere in the room was suffocating Jeff and started to feel anxious when Slender was dead quiet. "**That's it** ," His tone sounded angry and Jeff tighten the handle of his knife that he had on his now clean white hoodie. " **I am taking you with me and ** ** _not letting anyone near you, YOU WILL BECOME MINE ONCE AND FOR ALL_ **," The headache came back with a lot of intensity and Jeff let out a strangled cry of pain. 

One of Slender's tentacles popped out and tried to grab him, but Jeff moved out of the way and made a dash for the door. His headache was killing him, but he **needed **to get out and fast. More tentacles tried to grabbed him and Jeff sloppy made superficial cuts when they were close to capturing him.

Jeff quickly put a hand on the knob as he twisted it and pulled it open with force. Not wasting any second, he ran out as he heard Slender yell for him to come back. "FUCK OFF!" Jeff shouted as he pushed confused and terrified pedestrians out of his way.

He had nowhere to go, but Jeff felt like running out of sight. He needed to leave. He needed to leave. Heneededtoleave. Heneededtoleave. Heneededtoleave. **HE NEEDED TO LEAVE!**

"Why the hurry, ** _Jeffy?_ **" A familiar voice called out and Jeff stopped dead in his tracks he almost tripped. He turned around and saw Dr Smiley standing before him with a casual smile and his hands on his lab coat pockets. 

"Y-You!"

"Me."

Jeff got closer to him and on his desperation to run away grabbed Smiley by the shoulders with a scared expression. "** _Please _ **take me to where my kidnapper is!"

Smiley blinked, his smile gone for a couple of seconds before bursting out laughing. "Wow! Jackie is right, you ** _are _ **interesting."

Jeff out of the corner of his eye noticed Slender's figure ominously and tighten his grip. "** _Please!_ **"

"You really are desperate, huh? Is it because _ Slendy _over there is chasing you?"

"JUST TAKE ME THERE DAMN IT! My life is on the line here."

Smiley chuckled. "Alright, alright." Before Slender could make a move, Smiley grabbed Jeff by the wrists and with a quick spin, they were right outside the abandoned hospital.

Jeff stared at Smiley with a puzzled expression. "What… what just happened?"

"A long and technical explanation that I will justify by just saying: _ I'm a demon, _" Smiley said as he let go of Jeff and removed Jeff's grip from him. He opened the door to the hospital and stepped aside as he motioned Jeff to go first. "Shall we?" 

Jeff looked at Smiley annoyed, but walked in and noticed the mixture smell that hospitals carry with fresh blood this time. "So where is my kidnapper?"

"His name is Jack, you know?"

Jeff glanced back at him. "I know."

"Right this way then," Smiley said with a smirk and guided Jeff through the hospital to the office that Jack used to think of new plans to fuck with Slender. "He is behind this door," Smiley said after stopping in a door with the nameplate '_ Dr. McCormick's Office _'. 

Jeff stared at the door and only then did it hit what he had done. He had escaped Slender, but he was now back to the place that he was held captive for half a day. "Wow, I really am an idiot."

Smiley looked at him confused. "Anyway, I'm going back to town."

"What!?"

"What do you mean _ what _, I'm not going to babysit you," Smiley said with a shrug. "See ya."

"Wait-" but Smiley was long gone. Jeff took a deep breath and pushed his nervousness away. Being nervous is for pussies anyways. He opened the door with a slam and noticed the brunet man sitting behind the desk with his feet resting on said desk and a crossword puzzle book on his hand.

Jack looked up and Jeff's breath hitched. His kidnapper was not wearing his mask and despite now knowing he wasn't human, Jeff secretly admitted that his kidnapper was quite handsome himself. For a cannibal, his features look exquisite. A greek nose, lips that looked kissable and that messy dark brown hair. No homo though.

Jeff's _ 'totally-not-checking-you-out' _ glance only lasted like 3 seconds, but damn where those seconds eternal. "Yo!" Was all Jeff could say. 

"Didn't expect you to see you so soon," Jack said calmly, though internally he was hitting himself against an imaginary wall. Jeff The Killer the perceptive idiot was right in his office while he was slacking off and procrastinating. Jack left the book on the desk along with the pen and sat correctly. "I'll get to the point," Jack rested his arms on the desk. "_ What do you want? _"

Jeff closed the door and leaned against it. "I came here to help you make Slender's life a living hell."

"Really now?" Jack asked amused and smirked. Jeff did not like that.

"Yes," he said, glaring. 

"What are you doing?" Jack asked as he watched Jeff intently staring at him weirdly.

"Glaring at you."

"How can you glare if you have no eyelids?"

"How can you see if you have no eyes?" 

Jack's smirk widened. "Touché." _ That smirk again _Jeff thought annoyed. "So, why exactly should I trust you to help me make Slender cry like a little bitch?" Jack asked with mischief as he stood up and-oh god was he taller than Jeff. He must be on his mid-twenties or older. 

"I have lived under Slender's territory for 5 years, I have been in and out of his mansion and he is obsessed with me, if you need information I can get it out of him easily."

Jack hummed and walked closer to where Jeff was. Jeff's state of mind went blank and more so when Jack was too close, so close that if someone opened the door Jeff would accidentally kissed him. "Woah, no homo," Jeff said raising his hands in defense and glanced away nervously. Wait, _ nervously? _ Jeff was no pussy and glanced back determined to Jack's empty eye sockets. 

"How can I make sure you won't betray me?" Jack asked, ignoring Jeff's comment and the existence of _ personal space _. 

Jeff smirked at him. "You can't," Jeff felt proud as Jack's expression morphed into confusion and irritation. "You'll just have to trust me."

"How can I trust a moronic human serial killer like you?" Jack said looking at Jeff mockingly and a little offended. Jeff broke into a full grin.

"The same way I am trusting an asshole of a cannibal to make Slender go down on his knees and beg," Jeff said in an arrogant tone and leaned away from the door as he pushed Jack a little to leave some distance between them. Jeff extended his right hand. "So, we got a deal?" 

Jack stared at him intently before smirking back. This guy sure knows how to capture ** _his_ ** attention. "Alright," Jack grabbed Jeff's extended hand and shook it. "We have a deal."

* * *

Jeff carefully opened the apartment door, talking to Jack made him lose track of time and by the time he decided to come back it was nighttime. Jeff tiptoed to the kitchen and put the bagg with the eggs on the counter. "_ Now, go back to my room and- _"

The lights turned on. 

Jeff tensed up and slowly turned around to see a glaring Helen leaning against the kitchen door frame. "** _Where the fuck were you?_ **"

"Out."

"No shit Sherlock!" Helen's glare intensified. "Where the fuck did you run to!? Slender almost killed me while you were gone!"

Jeff rolled his eyes. "He attacked me first."

Helen let out an exasperated sigh. "I get that, but where were you!? Do you know how worried we were!?"

"We?" 

"I called Ben and told him you had gone away," Helen explained as he massaged his right temple. "He said he would try to look out for you, which reminds me I should call and tell him you are fine."

Jeff glanced at the tiled floor as Helen took out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Ben, he's back now-" Helen blinked and put down his phone as the raven haired killers waited for a blond elf to show up. They heard static coming from their TV and rushed steps coming to the kitchen. 

"JEFF!" Ben shouted and tackle-hugged his friend. 

"I can't breath Ben-" he gasped. Ben broke the hug and Jeff could finally breathe again, but the elf slapped him hard in the face. "Ouch! What the fuck Ben?"

"**DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED ** ** _WE _ ** **WERE!?**" Ben shouted, his voice cracking and biting back tears. Jeff sighed and patted his friend on the head while glancing at Helen apologetic. 

"Sorry, I was backed to a corner and… I panicked."

Helen sighed and Ben pouted. "Just tell us beforehand next time," said Helen as his body felt more relaxed.

"Did you guys… um… did you guys told my brother?" Asked Jeff a little hesitant. Helen and Ben looked at their friend with surprise before glancing at each other. Ben stood up and offered Jeff a hand. Jeff took it and sat down on the dining table with his friends. By the look of it, Jeff already knew the answer.

"Yeah, we did."

"What did he say?"

Ben looked at his hands with a deep frown while Helen glanced away grimly. Jeff felt a stab on his chest, no pun intended. "He didn't… he didn't seem to care," Ben said, but his voice was so soft it almost felt like a whisper.

There goes another stab.

"I see," Jeff said, trying to control the tone of his voice. He took a deep breath and smiled like he usually does. "That's to be expected, huh?" 

Ben and Helen looked at him with concern. Jeff didn't like that one bit. "Don't worry, I'm sure one day he'll forgive you!" Ben said, trying to cheer his friend up.

Jeff laughed. "Of course he won't! I tried to kill him and I killed our parents, I don't think anyone can forgive someone like me."

Ben pursued his lips in a thin line. "You don't know that… I mean, some people forgive their rapist, right?"

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Not the same and some people don't, Ben."

Helen stood up. "Anyway, let's not talk about this anymore, it's getting late and we are all tired."

Ben hugged Jeff one last time before going back to his place. Helen put a hand on Jeff's shoulder in a comforting manner and went back to his room. When Jeff was alone, he stared at his hands with an empty expression. No matter how depressing the situation with his brother was, he couldn't cry. "Well, I deserve it after all."

* * *

"What type of smart is that guy?" Jack mumbled to himself as he was back to his position on his office. Legs up on the desk and crossword puzzle book on his abdomen with the pen inside the page he was in. 

Jack now knew that Jeff was not the _ 'muscle-for-brains' _ he thought he was. Like Jeff said, he was no genius and that is very clear once you look at his pattern when killing. However, he is not a complete dumbass and that can be backed up by one important fact: _ He's never been caught, _ ** _not even once_ **. To go killing like that for eight years without getting caught is very hard and more so for a human. 

On his quick research about Jeff, those who have interacted with him have always deemed Jeff as either an idiot or '_ Daddy's boy _ ' though of course we all know who's " ** _Daddy_ ** " they are referring too. As creepy and cringing that sounds. " _ The King's Prince _, huh?"

According to Jack's research, Jeff was no genius in mathematics. He was quite average, to be honest. And he was no genius with people either. Sometimes he would be too offensive and other times he knew when to keep his mouth shut. It was peculiar to say the least.

Jack couldn't really put a finger to it, Jeff was an enigma he didn't expect to find. '_ Slender might be more feared than us, _ ** _Jackson_ ** _ , but it's actually his _ ** _subordinates _ ** _ that we should look out for _ ' Zalgo's words from a past conversation resonated on his mind. Although Jeff was no proxy, if he _ wanted to _in Jack's eye sockets he could qualify. Jack felt the corner of his lips twitch.

"Interesting," He said and remembered his interactions with Jeff. Those burning yet icy blue eyes, the healing scars and that childish smirk of his. Jack still doesn't get ** _why _ ** exactly Slender is so obsessed with Jeff, but this Jack knows, cooperating with him will be so, so ** _thrilling_ ** . "Just ** _interesting_ **."

A knock on the door broke the biggest grin Jack has ever wore on his face and shook his head. He was getting ahead of himself. "Jackie, your dinner is ready."

"I'll go down in a sec, have the rest come back already?"

"Sadly, they have," sighed Smiley. "Are you going to tell them about the deal?"

"The sooner the better."

"That is true, well, we'll be waiting for you at the cafeteria," Smiley said and walked out of the office. When Jack was alone, he pinched the bridge of his nose. There was no time to waste trying to figure Jeff out, he needed to make Slender lick the floor first.

* * *

When Jack came down, everybody was already at the tables they all had put together and were chatting loudly. Jack took his usual seat next to his best friend, Smiley and quietly ate the organ themed plate he was given.

"No way! Your victim got stolen, again?" The redheaded exclaimed as he looked at the black haired guy with glowing yellow eyes. "Was it that Helen guy?"

**The Puppeteer**, also known as Johnny sighed dramatically. "Fuck yeah it was him! I swear he must be tracking me or something."

The monochromatic clown grinned at his friend. "Ever considered the fact that you two are so alike you unconsciously go for the same victim?"

Johnny and the redhead looked at the clown before bursting out laughing. "Come one, LJ, as if that would ever happen," Johnny said with a mocking tone. LJ shrugged and continued to eat his organ filled candies.

"Jason, you bastard, pass the salt!" The brunet guy with stitches on his face exclaimed in annoyance.

Jason rolled his eyes. "What's the magic word, ** _Sully_ **?" 

"Fuck off"

"Close enough," Jason said with a shrug and passed the salt to Sully. The only ones in the table not making a big ruckus were Smiley, Jack and Zalgo himself… everyone stopped what they were doing and all heads were turned to where Zalgo was quietly sitting with a smile on his face. Smiley, who knew of his presence, just sipped on his black coffee as he waited for ** _it_ **.

"**Mister Zalgo!?**" Everyone with the exception of Smiley shouted in unison. Zalgo chuckled.

"Good night everybody."

"Good night, Mister Zalgo," Jack started. "To what do we owe the honour of your presence?" 

"Be at ease boys," Zalgo said as he smiled calmly at everybody in the table. "I just came here because I ** _noticed _ **something interesting has happened on this side of my jurisdiction."

Zalgo put hands together and looked at Jack with interest and mischief. "Jack, as head of this household, you ** _must _ **know what I'm talking about, right?"

All eyes were on Jack and he sighed. "Yes, I was going to tell everybody at this table the news anyway."

"What news?" Jason asked.

"Are we being kicked out!?" Shouted Johnny. Jack shook his head.

"No you idiots!" Jack exclaimed. He took a deep breath and looked back at Zalgo defiant. "I am going to _ work _with one of Slender's subordinates to take him down."

"**_What!?_ **" Everyone with the exception of Smiley and Zalgo yelled. Jack knew this was coming, but the sooner the better. 

"Can you even trust them?" Sully asked with a frown.

Jack felt that twitch at the corner of his lips again and cleared his throat. "Yes, we can trust him." _ Not really _ he thought. _ But Mister Zalgo, he is quite interesting and I am _ ** _sure _ ** _ he will become our greatest ally _Jack looked at Zalgo as he knew the demon was reading his mind. 

"Very well then," Zalgo said, standing up with a smirk. "I hope this ** _individual _ **will be amusing."

"Oh he is," Smiley said with a smirk. "You won't be disappointed." 

Zalgo bid his farewell and the cafeteria erupted with questions from the rowdiest members. "How old is he!?"

"Is he cute?"

"What's his name?"

"Is he famous?"

Jack looked at the guys annoyed. "Yes, he is a _ little _famous."

"Woah! Is it Dr. Pain?" Smiley tensed up at the name.

"Nah it has to be Ben!"

"Ugh, I can't deal with _ celebrities _"

"Is it Jeff The Killer?" Everyone went quiet. Sully had a deep frown as he stared at his lap and his shoulders were tense. 

"Why would someone like him help us, LJ?" Johnny started. "He is _ Royalty _," he said, quoting the royalty part. 

"Yeah and besides, isn't he like Slender's lover or something?" Jason asked as he tilted his head to the side. 

"**He is an idiot** ." Sully said in a solemn tone. Jack sighed, now he felt a little discouraged to confirm that it was indeed ** _the _ **famous Jeffrey Woods that will help them.

Jack finished his dinner and stood up. "Who knows."

* * *

_Jeff was back in _ ** _that_ ** _ house, the one where he ended the lives of his parents and almost took his brother's life. He walked through the halls of the house and stopped right in front of his brother's room. He opened it slowly and saw Liu sitting on the bed with an empty expression. _

_ "Liu…" Jeff softly called out to his brother, but his brother didn't react. "Liu I'm… I'm so sorry." _

_ At last, Liu turned his head to look at Jeff and he felt those empty green eyes bore into his soul. " _ ** _Sorry? _ ** _ Is that all you're going to say?" _

_ Jeff stayed quiet. _

_ Liu snorted. "I hope you die one day and it would be better if it's by my hands." _

_ "Liu-" _

_ " _ ** _Leave_ ** _ ." _

_ "But-" _

_ " _ ** _LEAVE!_ ** _ " Liu shouted, his empty expression morphed into rage. Jeff looked at his brother, but he couldn't be sure which expression was being shown to him. _

_ Then, he left._

* * *

Jeff welcome the darkness his sleeping mask provided and despite the dream, no tears left his eyes.

* * *

Liu opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of the white hospital. He could hear the slow breathing of his "_ roommate _" and slowly put his hands on his eyes. 

"Fuck," he whispered as tears fell from his eyes.

* * *

"**_YOU DID WHAT!?_ **" Ben and Helen shouted in unison. Jeff just looked at them annoyed and shrugged. 

"What you heard."

"Who in their right judgement would go to their kidnapper and team up with him to defeat the person you hate the most!?"

"Me."

"And wattpad stories about us with the readers."

Helen and Jeff stared at Ben. "Why am I not surprised?" Helen said sarcastically. 

"Anyway, why would you do that without consulting us first!?" 

"Like I said," Jeff started. "I panicked and besides, I am on thin ice because of Slender's sudden burst yesterday." 

Helen sighed. "So, when are you two meeting?"

"Tonight in that abandoned hospital."

"Abandoned hospital?" Ben raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Yeah, Jeff was taken hostage to an abandoned hospital under Zalgo's jurisdiction."

"Zalgo!?"

"My thoughts exactly."

Jeff rolled his eyes. "I'm going alone, so you two don't worry about it."

"Oh no, we are going with you!"

"I can defend myself!'

"Did you hear something, Helen?"

"Not at all, Ben."

"Ugh, whatever! But I thought you guys were so _ 'anxious' _ that not even in your wildest dreams would you break the oath."

Ben sighed dramatically. "Well, if you are going to die a stupid death-"

"Hey!"

"We might as well do it together!"

Jeff smirked. "Whatever," he said. It was times like this that he was glad to have made friends.

* * *

"Where you on Slender's forest again?" Smiley asked as he saw Kagekao come back this late in the morning.

Kagekao shrugged. "Was I?"

"I know you have a _ fascination _ with one of Slender's proxies, but you missed yesterday's announcement."

"Right," Kagekao felt annoyed and his mask changed to show it. "So?"

"We will be working with… _ someone _from Slender's territory to bring him down."

Kagekao hummed in thought. "So long as they don't hurt what's mine I will cooperate," he said nonchalantly and went past Smiley to go to the second floor. 

Smiley glanced at the japanese monster before he disappeared. "Poor Brian."

* * *

Brian walked back to the mansion with tired bags under his eyes. It was always a pain in the ass to deal with Kagekao and his weird semantics. Although that jerk keeps his mind occupied, between him and seeing his friends flirt in front of him… he rather die.

"Ah, there he is!" Tim exclaimed as he looked up from his breakfast which was waffles, which meant that Toby had cooked breakfast this time. "Where did you run off to?"

"Around."

"A-Around?" Toby repeated with a confused look on his face. 

Brian sat down next to Tim and grabbed a waffle. Tim noticed something purple-ish on Brian's neck, below his earlobe and smirked. "Oh, I see how it is."

"Hm?" Brian was in a state of falling asleep and trying his best not to as he stuffed whatever nutrients he could gather before passing out on the bed and waking up at night.

"Was the sex good at least?" Tim asked in a teasing tone and a wide mischievous grin. Toby gasped and Brian furiously coughed as he almost choked with the food after hearing Tim's words.

"WHAT!?"

Tin pointed to the place where the mark is. "You have a hickey."

Brian felt his cheeks warm and was about to yell something but Slender appeared on the room and the three proxies tensed up. "**Boys, we need to talk. Meet me in the conference room in 10 minutes.**"

Slender left, not even bothering to stay for breakfast. Even if it was to be polite as he couldn't eat human food. "Well," Tim spoke first. "We're fucked."

* * *

Brian was wide awake now as he listened to Slender ramble on and on about Jeff for twenty minutes. Then, he finally started to talk business with them. "**The security of the territory has weakened. I have sensed a couple of Zalgo's subordinates going in and out**."

At this, Brian paid closer attention to. "So we need to tighten the security, be more strict of who goes in and out."

Slender nodded his head in approval. "**Indeed we have to, however** ," he paused. " **I have ** ** _seen _ ** **subordinates of mine get out of the territory, we need to change that**."

The three proxies tensed up. "But sir," Tim spoke up before Brian could. "They are killers too! If we restrict them to just one area they will be caught by the police."

"And besides, that goes against the oath we made with them. If we break the oath then-"

"**I get it,** " Slender said and sighed. " **Just tighten security then**."

Tim and Brian looked at each other worriedly. Every time they have one of these meetings, Slender's decision is becoming more hasty. Not only that, but the three know why or ** _who _ **the reason is.

"Will do, Sir."

"**You boys are dismissed**." 

The three proxies got out of the conference room with a solemn expression. "He's b-b-becoming mo-more hasty," Toby said as he linked his arm with Tim's and rested his head on his shoulder.

Tim sighed. "So long as we are on his good side, we'll be fine."

Brian was too worried to even care of being the third wheel there. "In any case, we still should prepare for the worse," Brian glanced at his friends. "Just in case."

Tim hummed in thought. "You are right… but well, you will end up escaping with your lover right?"

Brian let out a strangled noise as a blush adorned his cheeks. "W-What lover? That guy is anything but that!"

Tim chuckled. "Oh, so he's your fuck buddy then?"

"Fuck off!" Brian exclaimed as he escapes to his room to at least catch a glimpse of sleep. He climbed up the bed and finally relaxed.

* * *

Slender paced around his room impatient and anxious. There must be some kind of method to make Jeff fall in love with him. He was getting impatient and he really, ** _really _ **needed to touch Jeff or else he might go crazy.

Ah, to be able to touch Jeff's naked body was going to be such a blessing when he does. He's been wishing, ** _wanting _ ** to touch and do all sorts of stuff with Jeff. Wrapping his tentacles around him or-oh god- ** _entering_ ** him made Slender feel exhilarating.

Slender chuckled. " **Soon, my dear Jeffrey,** " Slender said as his breathing started to pick up. " **Soon you'll be completely mine** ."

* * *

Dr. Pain gave a small sip to his black coffee as he stared outside his window at the cloudy winter sky. The air felt thick and he could only guess it must be because two power "_ houses _" would face each other and probably destroy each other.

"Luckily for us we are in No Man's Land."

"Morning doc," a brunette young girl said with a yawn as she hugged her teddy bear closer. "What's for breakfast?"

"Morning, Sally," Pain greeted. "Today it's a nice and simple omelette."

Sally nodded and sat down as she waited for someone. Then, a girl with raven hair walked out of the room she came from and yawned. "Breakfast?"

"Omelette," said Sally sleepily as she tried to remain awake. Pain chuckled as both girls were not morning people. After the girls started to dig in on the omelette, two people entered the cabin.

"Good morning, Clockwork, Nathan."

"**Morning,**" they said in unison and sat down on the table. 

"Today feels like a lot of unexpected surprises will befall us," Pain commented as he took another sip of his coffee.

Jane sighed. "I hope to at least prevent that asshole from killing more innocent people."

"Doubt it," said Nathan nonchalantly.

Jane frowned. "Why is that, **Nathan**?"

"He's gone incognito, again."

"** _Fuck_ **!" Jane hissed and continue to eat her breakfast in annoyance. Sally put a comforting hand on Jane's and smiled sweetly at her.

"Don't worry, Janey!" Sally exclaimed in a cheerful tone. "You will get him next time."

"If Liu doesn't get him first," commented Clockwork. Jane cursed under her breath again.

"I forgot about him."

Nathan raised an eyebrow at her. "Your only killing rival?"

"Look, unlike me, he goes around killing _ couples, _" Jane said with a frown. "Someone of his caliber will never be a rival for me."

"Recently he has not killed much," Pain pointed out. "Perhaps he found love again."

"Or has already killed Jeff."

"Not likely," Nathan said. "I saw him yesterday running towards Zalgo's jurisdiction."

"** _Zalgo!?_ **" Clockwork and Jane exclaimed. Nathan nodded. Pain hummed in thought and with a gloomy expression looked out the window again.

"Zalgo, huh?" He murmured. "I wonder how _ he _'s doing."

Everyone in the table was quiet again and for the sake of the head of the house, they changed the topic. However, Pain's thoughts still lingered on the demon doctor that refused to smile for him despite his name being _ Dr. Smiley. _


	2. Disastrous Meetings and A Cheesecake Blizzard With Extra Cheesecake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** sorry for being away for so long, I was stuck and had to rewrite this chapter a bunch of times. Thanks for being patient with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter! **

Jeff had a weird feeling, but he wasn't sure if it was good or bad. Throughout the day he has seen a lot of guys resembling Liu and that had Jeff on edge. It was a sign, that much he knew. He wanted to ask Helen, but that would only worry him. 

"If you keep frowning so much, you will not be as beautiful as you want to be." Helen said nonchalantly before drinking a cup of water. Jeff sighed as he felt his face muscles soften, but just in case took out his phone and flipped to the camera to see if his beauty was still intact.

"What's wrong, Jeff?" Ben asked as he paused his game to glance at his friend. "You are unusually quiet today."

Helen sat on the bar stool and rested his chin on his right hand. "He's on his period, Ben." After he said that, he dodge the pillow Jeff threw at him. 

"It's nothing," Jeff said with a scoff. "I'm just bored."

_ "He's lying."  _ Helen thought as he looked at Jeff. "That so? Well, we should be going to the cannibal's place anyway."

"Oh yeah, it's in an hour." Ben said with a lazy smile as he saved and left the game. Jeff smirked, he had almost forgotten about his deal with Jack. Jeff stood up from the couch to grab his trusty knife and walked out of the apartment with his friends. As Helen locked in, Jeff had a sudden craving for a dairy blizzard.

However, they didn't get very far once they saw one of the proxies guarding the nearest exit. " _ Shit _ ." Jeff cursed under his breath. As they got closer to Tim, the proxy silently watched them.

"What a surprise to see you here,  ** _Masky_ ** ."

Tim shrugged. “Is it?”

“Shouldn’t you be somewhere else?” Ben asked with an annoyed expression. Tim rolled his eyes as he continued to sip the beer can on his hand.

“What about you three?” Tim glared at them. “Where are you going so late at night?”

Jeff huffed. “It’s not even that late.”

“Answer the question or I will be forced to tell Slender-”

“Tell him what,” Jeff said with a scowl. “That we are going out to eat? Am I not allowed to go out with my friends to eat?”

Tim stayed silent as he continued to glare at the trio. “Fine, go on.” he crushed the empty beer can and threw it in the nearest trash can. “It’s not my business what you do anyway.”

Helen grabbed Jeff’s shoulder and nudged him to start walking. Jeff glared back at Tim before walking away, Ben ignored him and Helen glanced at him uninterested. "Whatever." He mumbled.

When they were far away from Tim's reach, Jeff let out a frustrated sigh. "The security was tightened."

Helen put a hand on Jeff's shoulder and Ben patted his head. "We can get through this." Helen said.

Jeff smirked as he tried to hide the fact that this shit with Slender was really weighing him down. "You bet your ass we are."

* * *

Jack paced back and forth on the entrance of the hospital, everyone was gathered on the cafeteria happily passing time until Jeff arrived. Not that they even knew Jeff was coming and although that should worry Jack, he is more worried about other stuff. Like, will Jeff arrive on time? Had he been caught by Slender? Kagekao had come by this morning (earlier for him to return considering the fact that he goes to annoy Brian and return the next day), saying that Slender has increased the security around his jurisdiction. 

“He’ll come, I mean, if he doesn't, that means he’s betrayed us.” Smiley said as he leaned against a wall near Jack. 

Jack blinked and stopped his pacing. “Who said he wouldn’t come?”

“Isn’t that why you are so impatient? I’m even more surprised to see you waiting here in the entrance.”

“Doesn’t look like it.” Jack said with a frown. Smiley, despite his name, wasn’t smiling at the moment. He had a serious expression and had his arms crossed. Jack was right, Smiley wasn’t surprised at all that Jack was impatiently waiting for Jeff to arrive. In fact, he was astonished that Jack hasn’t bolted out and went out to find him sooner.

_ “Hmmm, no, considering his situation…”  _ Smiley’s train of thought was interrupted when he heard voices getting near. One, he recognised. The other two were new to him. One knock, it only took one knock before Jack flew the door open and Smiley had to suppress a laugh at how impatient Jack was to meet Jeff again. 

“You finally arrived, Jeff.” Jack said acting like he hadn’t been waiting two hours at the entrance. He glanced at Jeff’s companions. “I didn’t know you would bring company.”

Jeff glanced at his friends. Helen was glaring at Jack and was taking a protective stance while Ben smiled dangerously as he glared too. Jeff sighed. “Sorry, they wouldn’t allow me to go alone,” he said. “But don’t worry, they won’t betray you…  ** _I’ll make sure of that_ ** .”

“Right.”

“Well then everyone, come on in!” Smiley said as he walked to Jack’s side. “Everyone is waiting for you.”

Jack tensed up a little and Smiley noticed. There shouldn’t be much of a problem, all Jack had to do was put authority and say that Jeff will be an ally. Everyone in that place respected Jack, which is why despite Smiley having lived in the abandoned hospital before everyone, the title of Head of the House fitted Jack more. 

Jack must have realized that and finally relaxed. However, Smiley spoke too soon. Well, thought. The moment Jeff entered the cafeteria with everyone, the room fell dead silent. Everyone was looking surprised, everyone except Sully. The stitched killer had widened his eyes for a second before glaring with so much hatred at the pale killer.

The one who broke the silence was Helen. He had grabbed Ben by the collar of his shirt and pulled him a bit closer. “I THOUGHT YOU SAID LIU WAS LIVING IN A NEUTRAL AREA!” Helen’s voice resonated throughout the cafeteria. Jack cleared his throat, but Liu abruptly stood up with his knife in hand.

Liu gritted his teeth. “ **What the fuck are you doing here** .”

Jeff was still shocked to see his younger brother there. Helen was right, why was Liu on Zalgo’s jurisdiction? Wasn’t he supposed to be on Neutral land? Ben, who still had contact with Liu, was just as surprised as they were. “I don’t… I don’t kno-”

“WHY IS HE HERE!?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” Ben shouted. Normally, he would have punched Helen in the face. However, Ben was more worried about Jeff’s emotional state and was looking at his best friend with distress. Helen, as angry as he was, let him go and stood in front of Jeff in a protective manner.

“We came here to-”

“ **I’m NOT talking to you, delusional painter** .”

Helen’s right eye twitched. “Did you just-”

“Helen,” Jeff called out as he stepped aside and shook his head. “It’s fine.” Jeff glanced at his brother, who was looking at him like scum. Not that he wasn’t, because truth be told, he was scum for trying to kill him. He knows he deserves it and it shouldn’t hurt… right? “Jack, mind filling them in?”

Jack blinked. Everyone in the room was so tensed. No one had ever seen Sully or Liu, they didn’t even know who he was anymore, so pissed before. Not even Jason had seen him so worked up and  ** _he _ ** was Liu’s roommate.

Jack sighed. “Jeff is the ally I was talking about.”

“So, I was right~” LJ said in his usual mocking tone. However, the glare Liu directed at him made LJ even sweat a little. So much for trying to lighten the mood. The whole atmosphere was so god damn thick, Liu could cut it with his own knife.

“I didn’t know your standards had fallen, EJ.” Liu said, his murderous look subsiding a little. “Having  ** _HIM _ ** as our ally is the  **WORST FUCKING THING ** you could have done.”

No one spoke, everyone was afraid to. Jeff gulped and cautiously took a step forward. “Listen, Liu-” Jack pulled Jeff aside and caught the knife Liu had thrown, groaning in pain after. Jeff let out a choked gasp as he stared at his younger brother.

“ **I will not listen to you, scum** .”

Jeff felt a knot on his throat. He really fucked up, huh? It was to be expected anyway. Who in the right fucking mind would forgive a family relative that killed your parents and then almost killed you? Fuck change, am I right fellas?

“ **Sully, you need to calm the fuck down** .” Jack said with a stern tone as he glared back at Liu. Liu let out a bitter laugh as he hunched over, passing a hand through his long brown hair. He straightened up at the same time he abruptly stopped laughing. 

“Why? Why should I calm down in front of the  **FUCKING ASSHOLE ** who  **MURDERED MY PARENTS ** ** _AND_ ** ** TRIED TO DO THE SAME SHIT WITH ME** !?”

Jeff flinched and Ben felt hopeless. When did this happen? Last time he talked to Liu, he said he was still living with Nina and the others. “He has been lying to me…” Ben whispered to himself. 

Jack dropped the knife to the floor, a dark blue liquid started to flow out of Jack’s hand. He let go of Jeff and put pressure on the wound with his other hand. “He will be our ally whether you like it or not,” Jack said, his expression hard. “So I suggest you refrain from hurting him or his companions.”

Liu let out a dry laugh. “I do not promise shit.” Smiley picked up the bloodied knife and cleaned it. He hesitated on giving the weapon back to Liu, but Liu had acted quicker and at one moment he was right in front of Smiley, snatching the knife back and the next he had stab Jeff on the shoulder. 

Jeff’s pained scream filled the cafeteria and Jason’s legs had moved on his own and was now holding Liu back. Helen was panicking and Ben had stepped in between a trashing Liu and a stabbed Jeff. Liu yelled to be let go and that no one should interfere, but Ben sighed and looked directly at Liu with pitiful eyes. “Sorry.” Ben said before punching Liu hard in the stomach, leaving him out of air. 

Jeff was holding his bleeding shoulder with the knife still stuck on him and bit his lip to not let out any more pained sounds. Smiley put a hand on Jack and Jeff’s back. “Come on, both of you, this meeting was a fucking disaster so let’s get you treated.”

Jack sighed again and followed Smiley with Jeff closed behind. Helen was about to follow them but noticed Ben was staring at Liu with a betrayed expression as Jason took him away to their room. “Aren’t you coming?” Helen asked.

Ben shook his head. “No… I’m…” Ben let out a shaky breath. “I’m going to talk to Liu.”

“I see…” Helen glanced away. “Sorry for yelling at you.”

Ben laughed, but it sounded more like he wanted to cry. “The one we should worry about the most is Jeff.”

“Yeah, but… Jeff would also worry about us.”

“I know,” Ben said as he put a hand on his neck. “I know.”

* * *

Smiley wrapped Jack’s hand with a bandage while Jeff, who already has been treated, leaned on Helen’s side as he stared off into the distance. Jack glanced at them and then back at his injured hand. “Jealous?” asked Smiley with a smirk. 

“Of?”

“You know.”

“Of course not, it’s like when you lean on my back sometimes.”

“I guess so, but don’t you feel anything?”

Jack raised an eyebrow at him. “Should I?” Smiley’s smirk faltered as he finished treating Jack’s hand. He glanced at Jeff and then at Jack.  _ “Oh boy, so it took a bigger impact than Zalgo and I expected.”  _ Smiley thought. 

“Anyway,” Smiley said as he patted Jack on the back and walked over to Jeff. “Mind telling us how you know Sully?”

Helen sighed and before he could talk for Jeff, the guy himself beat him to it. “He’s my younger brother and his name is Liu not Sully.”

“That’s weird, when he came here he told us his name was Sully.” Jack said as he walked to Jeff’s side. Jeff sat up and turned to look at Jack. The cannibal widened his eyes as he saw the dead and hopeless expression on the killer. 

“I don’t know why he chose Sully, but he probably didn’t want you guys to know that he was my brother.”

Smiley hummed in thought and grinned widely when an idea popped into his head. “In any case, we apologize for letting you get injured.”

“It’s fi-”

“In exchange, is there something you want?”

Jeff sighed and was about to say no, but his craving for a diary blizzard gnawed at him inside his head. “A diary blizzard.” he slipped out and then mentally groaned. Helen looked at him with a disappointed glance as Jeff flipped him off. “Let me be,  _ delusional painter _ ~”

Helen groaned. “I hate you and your brother.”

“In that case, Jack, why don’t you take Jeff to buy him a blizzard?”

“Huh? Why me?”

“You are the Head of the House, remember?”

Jeff felt lively again and decided to tease Jack. “Scared to be alone with me?”

Jack smirked. “On the contrary.”

“I will go to-” Helen’s plan of not leaving Jeff alone with that cannibal were gone down the drain when Smiley put a hand on his shoulder. 

“You must be the famous Bloody Painter! There is someone I want you to meet, he’s always talking about you nonstop.” Smiley said with a dangerous smile. Helen gulped.  _ “Well, Johnny doesn’t say anything  _ ** _good _ ** _ about him per se, but anything so long as those two are alone.”  _ Smiley thought as he started to drag Helen away from the room. 

“I’ll go get the keys, wait here.”

Jeff huffed. “As if I’ll listen to you.”

“You should listen, we will be working together from now on.” Jack said with a smirk as he walked in front of Jeff and leaned down to his eyesight level. Jeff looked at Jack annoyed and tried to come up with something.

Jeff smirked back. “I can lend you some of my strength, but no one is the boss of me,  ** _Jackie_ ** .” Jeff pushed Jack lightly away as he stood up and walked out of the room. Jack felt a pulling sensation on his chest and something warm. Jack smiled widely, boy was he glad to have Jeff as his ally. Things won’t be as boring around with him here.

* * *

Jeff was on the passenger’s seat as he stared out the window at the dark and starless sky. It was barely nine at night, an hour before Dairy Queen closed. Jack went in through the drive-in.  _ < Hello, welcome to Dairy Queen, may I take your order?  _ > a female voice asked through the box. Before Jeff could tell him which one he wanted, Jack ordered.

“A medium cheesecake blizzard.”

<  _ Would you like any extra cheesecake or nuts with that? _ > The girl asked. Jack turned to face at Jeff and Jeff looked at him with shock. He mumbled ‘ _ extra cheesecake _ ’ and Jack told the girl just that. <  _ Okay, please pass by the first window to receive your order  _ > Jack pulled the window up and drove to where the girl told him to. 

Jack took out a small test tube with a weird liquid on it. He drank it, but from Jeff’s perspective nothing dramatic changed. “How did you know I liked cheesecake blizzards?” The question caught Jack off guard. Jack glanced at him and was about to say something, but the girl opened the small window and Jack rolled his down. 

“Here’s your order!” the girl turned the blizzard upside-down before turning it back to normal in a quick manner and gave it to Jack. Jack grabbed it and handed it to Jeff, who gladly took it. “That would be $4.09.”

Jack reached for his wallet on the back of his jean pocket and pulled out a five dollar and gave it to the girl. “Keep the change.” Jack said with a smile and the girl blushed lightly as she smiled shyly. Jack rode away and felt Jeff’s stare as he ate his blizzard in silence. “What is it?”

“You haven’t answered my question and how in the world did that girl not freaked out by your looks?”

“You saw me drink that weird liquid, didn’t you?”

“What’s got to do with any of this?”

“Well, that is something Zalgo gave to me if I wanted to ever go out without my mask,” Jack explained. “Those who are not like us see me as if I were a regular human.”

Jeff hummed in thought as he continued to eat his blizzard. “Then, how did you know I liked these?” Jeff asked as he waved his blizzard in front of his face. Jack glanced at him and then back at the road. That, Jack had no answer. It’s not like his investigation about Jeff had any unnecessary stuff like what type of blizzard Jeff likes, so Jack had no idea  ** _how _ ** he knew.

“You look like the type to like that stuff.” Jack said after a few minutes of silence. Jeff rolled his eyes at that answer. That was utter bullshit, everyone who knew Jeff had told him he doesn’t look like the type to enjoy sweet stuff much less a cheesecake. The crazy fans had always said it was Tim who was a cheesecake fanatic, but Tim hates the stuff. 

In fact, Jeff was closer (but not to that extreme) to being the “cheesecake lover” compared to Tim. “Anyway, sorry about my brother.”

Jack sighed as he frowned, recalling how Liu reacted. “No, I should be the one apologizing,” he said. “As head of the house, I should have paid more attention or run a background check on him.”

Jeff chuckled bitterly. “Nah, Liu wanted to run away from me or got closer to the enemy to find me… either way, I fucked up and this is the price I have to pay.”

“Well aren’t you a martyr?”

Jeff let out a dry laugh. “Yup.” The rest of the way back was drowned in silence. Jeff was half done eating his blizzard when they arrived back at the hospital. As Jeff scoop another part with a small piece of cheesecake, Jack tapped his right shoulder. “What do yo-” Jack took the spoon Jeff was anxiously waiting as the pale killer turned to his left with an offended gasp. “ _ How  _ ** _d a r e _ ** _ you? _ ” 

Jack chuckled as he leaned back and avoided a smack from Jeff. “As expected, this shit is too sweet for me.”

“Then why eat it in the first place, asshole!?” Jeff called out as Jack entered the hospital with an annoyed Jeff following behind. They went inside the cafeteria and luckily a few residents were still there. Kagekao, LJ and Johnathan were there with Smiley and Helen. Though Helen and Johnathan were bickering like crazy as Kagekao, LJ and Smiley calmly talked over them.

“Oh, welcome back!”

Helen stopped his bickering as he saw Jeff with a spoon on his mouth and a blizzard on his left hand. “You really did went there, huh?”

“Shut up!” Jeff shouted as he took a seat next to the monochromatic clown and Jack just stood next to the pale killer.

“I know this didn’t went well, but I’ll say it again: Jeff here will be our ally along with his companions.”

Kagekao, LJ and Johnathan stayed silent for a while and Jeff felt tense under their stare. Though that blank stare didn’t last long before the three of them smiled at him. “Well, if Jackie chose him then he must be trustworthy.” Kagekao said with a shrug.

“Hey, is it true that you and Slender are banging?”

Jeff scoffed. “Fuck no! I’m not even gay.”

“Oh honey,” LJ said with a knowing smirk as he shook his head. “Are you sure about that?”

“Huh? Of course! Why do you think that?”

“You give off gay vibes.” LJ said with a grin as the rest on the table (with the exception of Smiley and Jack) laughed at him while Jeff denied such accusations. Jack sighed in relief, luckily he doesn’t have to go through much trouble after what happened before. He looked over at everyone on the table, they all seemed to slowly get along with Jeff and Helen.  _ “Now, all we need is corporate and follow the plan.”  _ Jack thought.

* * *

_ Moments after Jeff and Jack left _

Ben silently leaned against the wall as Jason helped Liu sat on his bed. Jason glanced at the elf, but didn’t say anything and instead excused himself to go for a glass of water. When Liu and Ben were alone, they finally met eye to eye. Yet, neither of them spoke. Ben wanted to say something, but the words were stuck on his throat.

“Why are you here?” Liu hoarsely asked as he held his stomach. Ben sighed and walked a little closer to Liu.

“Jeff got himself in some…  _ trouble _ … and decided to unite forces with Jack for some reason.”

Liu glanced away. “I didn’t mean that.”

Ben stood still for a moment before he sat next to Liu with his arms crossed. “Jeff is my friend and I owe him a lot, that’s why I’m here.”

“Ha! What a joke.”

“I’m not joking.” Ben said, looking at him sternly. “You should try and  ** _listen _ ** to what your brother has to say.”

Liu looked back at Ben with a frown. “I  **know ** what he will say!  _ Oh, Liu, I’m so sorry for killing our parents and almost killing you! Let’s forget all that in the past and move on like nothing happened _ .” Liu said in a mocking tone. “Yeah, no, I rather not.”

“But-”

“Have you ever considered how  ** _I _ ** felt!? I still have nightmares about it and you expect me to forgive him just like that?”

Ben opened his mouth, but closed it again. Liu had a point. He had no obligation to forgive Jeff and he had every right not to. Ben knows that, but it pains to see the Woods brothers self-destruct with unhealthy habits.  _ “If you don’t want to forgive him, then why do you look so sad when he leaves?”  _ Ben thought, but knew better than to say it outloud.

“An alliance with Jeff, really?” Liu grumbled and Ben glanced away. “What is EJ thinking?”

“You underestimate your brother,” Ben sighed. “He might not look like it, but if it’s Slender related he is useful.”

Liu rolled his eyes. “I won’t cooperate with that asshole.”

“You have to.”

Liu was about to open his mouth to say something, but decided against it. “Whatever, leave me alone for now.” Ben sighed before standing up and patting Liu on the head, the younger killer glanced up at him and Ben felt his piercing eyes dig inside. 

“You can always ignore your brother and talk to me instead.” He said before walking out of the room. He turned to his left and saw Jason smoking out the small window at the end of the hall. “Hey!” Ben called out as he walked closer to Jason. The red-headed killer glanced back at Ben with surprise before greeting back nervously.

“Sorry I lied about getting water…”

Ben chuckled. “It’s fine, you wanted to escape the suffocating atmosphere, right?”

Jason snickered. “Yeah…”

“Sorry about Liu, he is as intense as his brother sometimes.”

“Liu, huh? I didn’t know his real name sounded so lame, but don’t tell him I said that.” Jason said before putting the cigarette back to his lips. Ben laughed before looking out the window.

“What name did he use?”

“Sully.”

“Well, that actually sounds cooler.”

Jason chuckled. “Right?”

“But, I think Liu is a good name…” Ben said with a sad smile and a soft glance. Jason glanced at him before putting his cigarette out. “I haven’t asked for your name, have I?”

“I’m Jason-”

“Derulo?”

Jason rolled his eyes as Ben smirked. “Funny, but no.”

“What a shame,” Ben said with a shrug. “I would have asked for an autograph.”

“Anyway, I’m Jason the Toy Maker.”

Ben hummed in thought before putting his hand out. “Ben Drowned.” Jason smirked as he shook Ben’s hand.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Want an autograph?”

“I’ll pass,  _ Zelda _ .”

Ben felt his right eye twitch as the handshake between them became tighter. “If you say so,  _ Derulo _ .” Both of them snatched their hands away and stared at each other with disinterest. “You don’t mind if I explore the place, do you?”   


Jason shrugged. “Not really, not my business what you do anyway.”

“Good, it should never be.” Ben said with a huff before going to the next floor. When Jason could no longer see the elf, he turned around and put a hand on his chest as he let out a shaky sigh of relief. Holy shit, he had just talked to one of the big and famous killers out there. Did he give a good impression? Hopefully it was the case.

“Damn it EJ, if you were going to make an alliance with the big fish you should have told me!” Jason hissed before sighing and going back to check on Liu. The younger Woods was laying on the bed holding the cross necklace to his face before bringing it close to his chest. Jason knew Liu wanted to be alone and decided to go somewhere else. However, he heard loud voices downstairs and noticed everyone was back in the cafeteria.

* * *

"As you all know, I want to bring Slender down just like some of you," Jack started as finally everyone was calm enough to listen. "In order to do that, we need to follow a plan.”

“Do we even got one?”

“Kind of, it’s not completed yet.”

Smiley chuckled. “You should spend less time on crossword puzzles, Jackie~”

Jack rolled his eyes. “In any case, I have a role for each and everyone of us,” he said. “We will be in pairs and they would be as follows: Helen and Johnny-”

“ **What!?** ” Helen and Johnny said at the same time. 

“Ben with Jason,” Ben and Jason glanced at each other. “Smiley with Liu, Kagekao with LJ and Jeff will be with me.”

_ “I wonder why that is~” _ Smiley thought with a smirk. “And our roles are?”

“Helen, Johnny, Kagekao and LJ will be in charge of monitoring the proxies,” at the mention of that, Kagekao’s mask morphed into a sinister smile. “Ben, Jason, Smiley and Liu in charge of gathering allies in the Neutral areas-”

“And I’m guessing you and I will be taking care of Slender?” Jeff finished. Jack smirked and nodded, earning a smirk back from Jeff. “This incomplete plan is starting to sound good.”

“Can I change my partner?” Helen asked annoyed as he raised his hand. Johnny glared at him as he mumbled a:  _ “I was about to say that.” _

“No.”

“But-”

“No.”

Helen and Johnny sighed in annoyance. “ **Damn it** .” they said in unison and glare at each other once again. 

“It’s getting late and I’m sure our new allies would like to catch some sleep.” Smiley pointed out as he stood up. Everyone started to leave the cafeteria and as Jeff was guided to the entrance, he glanced back one last time at Liu’s back and felt his shoulder wound throb. 

“Come back in three days, if you come everyday Slender would suspect something.” Jack said as he opened the door for Jeff and his friends. Ben and Helen had looked weird at Jack, but decided to get out first. Smiley was surprised at Jack’s action as was Jeff.

“Alright, but how would we even communicate in case something happens?” 

Before Jack could say anything, Smiley intervened. “He’ll know, don’t worry about it.” He said with a wink. Jack looked at Smiley with confusion, but Jeff only shrugged.

“Okay then, see you in three days.”

“See you, Jeffy~” Smiley said with a grin. When Jeff left, Smiley glanced at Jack who had a small smile on his lips.  _ “Interesting.”  _ He thought. “Jackie, I will go see Zalgo right now, I need to discuss our plans with him.”

“Okay, will you be coming late then?”

Smiley nodded with a sigh. “Yup.”

“Good luck then.”

“Thanks,” Smiley said as he watched Jack heading back to his office. “But I don’t need it.”

* * *

Jeff dried his hair as he listened to his friends bicker over some anime that the killer will probably be forced to binge watch with them. He sighed and mentally prepared himself over what kind of anime it would be. Neon Genesis Evangelion was actually cool, he loved Asuka’s character. But there have been some anime that left a  _ ‘I don’t even know what to say’ _ feeling like with Sword Art Online.

“Hurry up Jeff!” Ben shouted from the living room. 

“Coming!” Jeff shouted back and put on a loose grey shirt. He walked on the living room and saw Helen sitting on the floor while Ben had claimed the three-seat sofa. “I’m assuming you’re staying?” Jeff asked Ben as he sat next to Helen.

“I’m too tired to go back home, let me crash here.”

“You always do even when you don’t ask.” Helen pointed out. Jeff chuckled and glanced at the TV to see what anime he will have to watch. The title of it was  _ ‘Full Metal Alchemist’ _ and the cover had a blond haired guy with a metal arm and some guy in an armor.

As Helen pressed play, Jeff looked at his friends. “You guys didn’t have to come, but thanks for doing so.” Jeff said with a hesitant look on his eyes. Helen and Ben looked at him surprised. It was rare for Jeff to even show gratitude, but it was because of that they valued Jeff’s effort a lot more.

“No worries dude, we were just bored anyway.” Helen said with a soft smile. Ben only grinned and gently pushed Jeff’s shoulder with his barefoot.

“What’s up with you? Even if you had asked, our answers would have been a total  _ fuck yeah _ !” Ben said and Jeff grinned back. The three killing musketeers glanced back at the TV, just in time as the opening was coming to an end. Surprisingly enough, the anime caught Jeff’s attention and even liked it.

_ “I just wish Liu was here… maybe he would have liked it too.” _ Jeff thought as he sadly smile while picturing that scene. 

* * *

Brian inspected the area one last time before going back to the mansion. Throughout the whole day he hadn’t seen Kagekao and instead of feeling elated, he felt disappointed. According to Toby, he didn’t have any valid reasons to enter their jurisdiction and chased him away. It wasn’t Toby’s fault, really, he was only doing his job. And yet…

“What am I thinking? I’m just glad I got to breath for once!” Brian mumbled as he put his hands on his hood pockets and started to walk back. However, he heard a tree branch break and Brian wiped his head back, almost losing his balance.

"Yo! I guess my plan of scaring you are futile now, huh?"

"Oh, it's you." Brian said disappointed as he stared at Tim. 

Tim chuckled. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"No." He lied and was glad to still wear his mask. Tim rolled his eyes.

"Right," he put his hands on his hips. "That friend of yours is from Zalgo's jurisdiction isn't he?"

"The only friends I have are you and Toby."

"That's kinda sad to be honest…" Tim trailed off as he sensed Brian's glare from underneath the mask. "In any case, you have the romeo and juliet relationship, eh?"

Brian rolled his eyes. "If that were the case, then he should hurry up and poison himself!" Brian shouted as he started to walk back with Tim following close behind.

"You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't." Laughed Tim. Brian wanted to disagree, but was too tired and instead let it be. 

"Will we be okay?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You know why."

"That reminds me, tonight…  ** _those _ ** three went out and came back a little late."

Brian stopped in his tracks and stared at Tim, both of them knowing what the other was thinking despite them still wearing masks. "Where did they go?"

"According to Helen, to  _ Wing Daddy's _ ."

Brian rolled his eyes. "Yeah right."

"That damn brat better not get himself in trouble, we are already suffering enough because of his antics."

"Will you report that to Slender?"

Tim stayed quiet for a minute. "What he doesn't know, won't hurt him."

Brian glanced up at the midnight sky. "Well, let's just hope it's nothing."

* * *

Jack sighed and rubbed his temples as he continued to work on the plan. Drafting, analyzing and erasing words only to repeat the same cycle. He wasn’t going to admit it so easily, but he was stuck. Perhaps he shouldn’t rush, with the new information his team gathered, they could find something to make Slender crawl to their feet and beg for mercy. 

There was a knock on his door before the person entered. “You’re still here?” Smiley asked unsurprised as he was used to Jack staying up so late at night.

“I wanted to see if I could come up with something else,” Jack said with a shrug. Smiley sighed and closed the door behind him whilst leaning against it. “How’d it go with Zalgo?”

Smiley’s grim expression told Jack everything. “Not good.”

“What’s wrong?”

Smiley shook his head. “Nothing really, just… some stuff me and Zalgo are watching over, but it’s worse than we thought.”

“I see.” Jack said with a frown. Smiley blinked and regained his usual cynical smile, trying his best not to leak anything confidential. 

“So, how’s the plan coming along?”

It was Jack’s turn to sigh. “Not so good, I’m stuck.”

“Oh my, guess you’ll have to wait until we gather more stuff.”

“Indeed,” Jack said as he stood up to stretch. “Well, I think I’ll go out for a kill.”

“Take Kagekao with you, he’s sulking behind the reception desk.”

Jack snickered. “He really can’t pass a day without seeing Brian.” Smiley chuckled, but didn’t say anything anymore. Both men walked out of the office and Smiley waved farewell before he walked towards the garden behind the hospital. Jack went to his shared room for a couple of things, glancing at a quiet LJ who was playing with some kids toys. Jack cleared his throat and walked up to LJ. “You good?”

LJ glanced at him before turning his attention back to the toy car. “Just bored, oh hey, tomorrow Candy will drop by! Is that okay?” LJ’s wide smile returning. 

Jack shrugged. “Sure, just make sure not to burn anything this time.” He said as he started to head to the door. LJ shouted a ‘ _ Yes sir! Thank you sir! _ ’ and Jack shook his head with a chuckle. He passed by the cafeteria, where Jason and Johnny were making some puppets as they talked. “Hey guys!”

“ **EJ!** ” they exclaimed in unison. 

“Working on a collaboration?”

“Nah, just helping out Jason with his new inventions.” Johnny said with a smirk. Jason sighed and shook his head.

“It’s a lot, I should have controlled myself.”

“There, there buddy.”

“I heard Candy was coming over tomorrow.”

Jason’s face lit up. “He is! Been a long time since me and LJ saw him.”

“Where did he run off to anyway?” Johnny asked annoyed. Jack shrugged and waved goodbye as he reached the reception and walked over to the desk. He loomed over and saw Kagekao in a fetal position with a whole bottle of wine by his side. Either he had passed out or the expression on Kagekao must be unrecognizable that the mask can not express it.

“Want to go out?”

No answer.

“We can pass by Offender’s place-”

Kagekao stood up and grabbed his bottle of wine. He stretched a little before dusting off his bottle instead of him. Jack sighed and motioned Kagekao to follow him. After an anticlimactic kill where he took out the liver in a clean way and storing it away in his special storage in the outskirts of town, Jack and Kagekao walked over to a small portion of the forest where it stood in Neutral territory. 

If you keep walking straight with no real goal in mind, the atmosphere starts to change and soon you will find a cabin with the lights on. Once you walked inside, you would notice that the place had been turned into a small cozy bar with music playing. Kagekao had long finished his bottle of wine and took a seat on the barstool. Jack sat next to him and found it a little too convenient for  _ Heartbreak Hotel  _ by Elvis Presly to be playing at the moment.

“ **My, how long has it been seen I’ve seen you two?** ” A being almost as tall as Slender appeared out of thin air. Instead of a suit, he was wearing a coat-let’s be real here, okay? You know who it is and how he looks like, so let’s move on.

“Hello Offender, sorry for not dropping by more often, we’ve been busy.”

“ **I figured, but why is Kagekao so dead?** ” Offender asked as he turned his head to where Kagekao had rested his head and his mask not showing any expression.

“Your brother tightened security and got chased away by Toby.”

“ **Ah, so his daily dose of Brian finally came to an end then.** ”

Jack patted Kagekao on the back. “Let’s hope he can reunite with that proxy soon.” Offender chuckled and turned around to look for his greatest bottle of wine before giving the whole bottle to the japanese monster. Kagekao quickly took it as he straightened up, he lifted his mask a little and chugged down half the bottle before going back to his initial position.

Offender whistled. “ **Damn, he looks as if he was dumped by him.** ”

“I know, what’s with the heartbreaking old songs?” Jack asked as he noticed  _ Don’t Go Breaking My Heart  _ by Elton John played right after the Elvis song.

Offender laughed. “ **That’s just a coincidence, what will you be drinking?** ”

“Just beer.”

“ **Coming right up!** ” Offender exclaimed as he prepared the drink. “ **You know, that rascal’s idea of opening a bar was the best he's ever had.** ”

Jack raised an eyebrow at him. “What rascal?”

As Offender set the beer in front of Jack, his grin faded. “ **Oh… right.** ”

Jack glanced at him suspiciously, but decided not to press further. He took off his mask and set it aside. “Seriously though, these songs are so in tune with Kagekao’s mood.” Jack said taking a sip of his beer as the old song that have been playing were heartbreak songs. Offender chuckled and nodded in agreement. Kagekao moved again, but only to finish the bottle of wine and sigh.

“Bartender, another one.”

“ **Your english has gotten better~** ” Offender teased as he gave another wine bottle to Kagekao. The japanese killer started to chug it down, but set it down halfway and groaned as he rested his head on his right hand. As he hummed to  _ Careless Whisper _ , Jack and Offender decided to catch up on life. “ **So, Jeff is going to help you.** ”

“Yup.”

Offender stared at Jack for a minute. “ **Interesting, so what do you think about him?** ”

Jack hummed as he took another sip of his beer. “He’s… not what I expected, to be honest.”

“ **Oh?** ”

“I thought he would be a muscle headed moron, but he can be smart if he wanted.”

‘ _ Well, if this isn’t Deja Vú _ ’ Offender thought. “ **I see,** ” Offender served himself a cup of wine. “ **Well, If there is anything you need, let me know.** ” The hours passed by and Jack had to drag a drunk Kagekao back home. When they arrived, Jack was lucky enough to be able to pass the burden of carrying the japanese killer onto Johnny. They were roommates anyway.

* * *

_ The hallway was dark and the whole house was quiet, Liu slowly walked through it and saw one of the rooms still had the lights on. With a serious expression, he opened the door and widened his eyes at the sight before him. His older brother was on top of his younger self, he was gripping the knife with both hands and laughed hysterically as he started to stab his younger self repeatedly. Liu wanted to move, he wanted to take Jeff off of him, but he couldn’t. His legs wouldn’t budge from where he was. The only thing he could do was watch in horror how his older brother  _ ** _killed _ ** _ him. _

_ After that was done, Jeff was stained with  _ ** _his _ ** _ blood and staring at the ceiling with a bored expression. He then turned his attention to the current Liu and he felt his whole body tensed up. The younger version of Jeff smiled wide again as his wicked look returned. “Go to sleep,  _ ** _dear brother_ ** _ , the monster has been defeated.” He said before laughing  _

_ Liu finally could move, but this time it was to run away from that scene. However, he couldn’t run that well. It was as if he was running in water and glanced back to see Jeff all bloodied up getting closer to him. Liu’s breathing started to get agitated and entered one of the many doors to try and escape from  _ ** _him_ ** _ .  _

_ Liu tried to get his breath steady and let out a drowned yelp as he saw his parents sitting on their bed. They had a deep cut on their neck and blooded continued to pour down from that injury. Their skin was rotten and their eyes were pure white, but even if they weren’t smiling, the cut that Jeff had put them made it seem like they were. The same fucking wound that the psycho had.  _

_ “Aren’t they beautiful?” Liu let out a yell as he jumped in surprise and turned behind. Jeff was there, holding his knife with a wicked face. “Hey, Liu,  _ ** _aren’t I beautiful?_ ** _ ” Jeff’s voice deepened at the last part and just as he was going to be stabbed in the eye,  _ he woke up.

* * *

Liu gasped for air as he sat up and put a hand on his chest and the other on his hair. Again, he had a nightmare with that bastard. After Liu calmed down, he glanced to see if he had woken Jason up, but the toymaker himself wasn’t even there. “Must be working on something.” He mumbled and was thankful for that.

Liu laid down again and stared at the ceiling for a while. His tired eyes begged him to sleep, but he was afraid to go back to that nightmare. Yet, he couldn’t keep them open any longer and sleep won over him. This time, only darkness received him.

* * *

_ “What is a brat like you doing here?” A voice called out. Jeff couldn’t see anything, it was just darkness. But, even like that, he could feel the rain drops hitting his whole body. The person sighed. “As a doctor, I can’t leave you to die… even if-” Jeff groaned, he couldn’t hear the rest of what the person was saying. Was he going to die? First he had gone blind and now this. _

_ “Le…. a…. Ve…” _

_ The person went quiet for a second. “Yeah, no, I can’t do that.” Jeff felt his light body being lifted and although it was raining in the chilly weather, he felt warm when the person carried him. It was only for a little bit, but that warmth was enough to make Jeff cry. _

* * *

Jeff felt his body jerk up, meaning he had woken up as he saw nothing but darkness. He lifted his eye mask and stared at the ceiling. His chest started to hurt a little, but was too lazy to stand up to see if there was any ibuprofeno. Instead, he reached for the glass of water he had on his nightstand table to drink the rest of its content. 

“That should be enough.” Jeff said as he put on his eye mask again and laid back to sleep.

* * *

Slender opened the door to what used to be Jeff’s bedroom. There is not a single object left behind by the killer in that room anymore, but Slender still likes to go there and remember the days where Jeff lived in the mansion. The  **only ** other creepypasta that lived there aside from the proxies and Slender himself. He passed a hand on the bed all the way to the pillows and felt a thrill all over his body.

Ah, he still remembers how calmly Jeff would sleep in that room. His fragile chest rising up and down, his cute sleep mask and his little snores. Oh how he wanted to jump on him so much during those times. Take off his pajamas and making him cum with only his tentacles before entering him. Mmm yes, making him cum and cum again and again.

“ **Ah, Jeffrey~** ” He moaned as he started to think lewd stuff with Jeff again. What kind of face would Jeff make? He would most likely put up a fight, not that it matters anyway. Even if Jeff is crying and begging to stop, he wouldn’t. Thinking about such dirty things made Slender hot and he started to feel tight down in his pants. 

One of Slender’s tentacles turned off the lights and Slender’s fun began.

* * *

Jeff yawned as he got out of his room, Helen outside the apartment smoking and Ben had yet to wake up from the couch. Jeff stared blankly at the floor, trying to fully wake up and only when Ben yelled his usual ‘ _ oh shit _ ’ did he accomplish that. The elf almost fell out of the couch as he scrambled up and gather his stuff to leave.

“I’ll see you assholes in three days!” Ben shouted before jumping on the TV and leaving. Helen came back inside once he put his cigarette out and sat on the dining table with Jeff. The two killers didn’t say anything for a minute.

“Three days, huh?”

“Yup.”

“Well, at least you won’t be with your brother.” Helen said, but regretted it once he saw Jeff’s blank expression. Helen has known Jeff for a while and although he’s only seen him cry once, Helen knew that his friend made  ** _that _ ** blank expression when he was conflicted or hurt. “Sorry.”

Jeff laughed, but it sounded hollow. “Nah, you’re right anyway.”

“Anyway, What will we be doing during these days.”

“Well, I’m still in incognito mode and you will continue to go killing, right?”

Helen stayed quiet for a minute. “Well, there really is nothing else, aside from my paintings of course.”

“Didn’t you say you were having an art block?”

“I am,” Helen sighed. “I don’t know, I haven’t been able to  _ draw _ lately.”

“Don’t worry dude, I’m sure you will get your inspiration back.”

“Thanks.” Helen smiled at his friend and calmly talked for a while before deciding to start cleaning the apartment seeing as it was starting to look nasty as fuck. Jeff started to clean his own room and Helen opted to sweep the living room. 

Helen heard a thud noise coming from Jeff’s room and the painter glanced over to his door. “You okay!?” He shouted.

“Yeah!” Jeff shouted back after cursing. Helen chuckled and continue his job at hand. Cleaning didn’t took so long, at least not since Jeff moved in with him. Before, Helen would take half a day to clean the whole apartment. It was sometime past noon and Helen was on the store room where all his paintings were. He stared blankly at the white canvas, waiting…  _ itching _ to be painted with lots of colors.

At some point, Helen wondered why he even bother to go out killing for his “red paint” when he was having an art block. It was useless, in his opinion. Yet, deep inside Helen did so to reassure himself that he would pick up the brush once again. Whenever he was alone,  **those ** thoughts would creep into his mind.  _ What  _ ** _if _ ** _ he never could paint again? What if this was it? His limit. Had he burned out long ago and didn’t notice?  _

“Helen?” Jeff called out and Helen was snapped out of his horrible thoughts.

“Yes?” He glanced back at Jeff and the killer had a worried expression on his face. “I’m fine.”

Jeff nodded slowly. “Right, anyway, want to buy pizza and watch a movie?”

Helen smirked. “Damn right I do.” He said. Helen was really glad to have Jeff as a roommate and as a friend. Not that he would say it out loud, that is way too cheesy for him. But, if he was still alone… maybe he would have given up a long time ago. 

After all, he hasn’t picked up the brush since four years. 

* * *

_ Somewhere in Neutral Territory _

The abandoned factory roared in anger as the people inside shouted, cursed and all Dr. Pain could do was sit at the very back of the crowd with a troubled expression. Next to him was Natalie with her arms crossed as she looked at the scene with boredom. Usually, these types of meetings were supposed to be held at the end of the month, but due to a recent incident they can no longer ignore a big problem for them.

“ **SILENCE!** ” The echoing voice of Splendorman shut everyone up and the eldest of the “ _ Slender Family _ ” stepped out of the shadows, his happy face back to normal. “ **Ahem, my apologies.** ” he said while clasping his hands together. “ **Let’s go one at a time, okay?** ”

Chris stood up and with a snarl she said: “You’re  ** _brother _ ** has tighten security and refuses to let any of us in!” the crowd roared a ‘Yeah!’ and Chris continued. “The only fucking people he lets in are from his jurisdiction and even if  ** _we _ ** want to go to other Neutral side they won’t let us!”

The crowd roared in agreement and Pain shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Natalie, for her part, was just uninterested in the meeting. “ **We are aware that Slender tighten security, me and Trender are working on it.** ” Splendor said, his facial expression changing for a worried one.

“That’s not the only problem here!” Candy shouted and he too stood up. “I don’t know how, but he has been expanding his jurisdiction secretly! I was kicked out of my place because  ** _now it belongs to Slender_ ** .” He said, putting a mocking tone on the last words.

The crowd started to murmur and angrily supported Candy. “Besides, he’s still trying to pick up a fight with Zalgo and none of us want to partake in his stupid games!” Chris shouted. It was then that Natalie growled and stood up with a death glare.

“ **HA! ** ** _As if we have any fucking choice_ ** .” she snarled and Chris scoffed at her. 

“What makes you say that?”

“This battle between the ridiculously overpowered houses is inevitable and whether we like it or not, we will have to pick up an ally.”

Candy sighed. “The woman is right, with how Slender is taking actions, he is likely to attack first.”

“ **Guys…** ”

“In any case, shouldn’t we side with Zalgo? His jurisdiction is like paradise compared to Slender’s.” someone amongst the angry mob said. 

Another person snickered at the comment. “Zalgo might be surprisingly better, but Slender is still powerful and I rather still be alive.”

Splendor sighed. There was no point in arguing, his younger brother had done a lot of shit that really the Pastas living in Neutral territory had enough off Slender’s actions.  _ Oh dear brother, what have you done?  _ He thought. Splendor watched the crowd slowly start fighting over who they should ally themselves to and his glance met up with Pain’s. They smiled awkwardly and felt relieved to find a kindred spirit in this disastrous meeting.

“ **Now everyone, we should all wait and see.** ” Trender, who was leaning against the entrance of the factory finally spoke. Everyone had their attention to the youngest brother. “ **I have been keeping a close eye on Zalgo’s jurisdiction and I am ** ** _certain _ ** **that they have an important key to overturn Slender.** ” he said, raising his index finger as his left hand held his right elbow. 

“So we should all side with Zalgo?” Chris asked, crossing her arms. 

“ **That’s not what I’m saying, after all, my brother could have a secret move,** ” Trender sighed. “ **But, Zalgo is not weak. I suggest we wait and it is up to any of you who to side with if they start fighting** .”

Pain felt curious at Trender’s statement, but he smiled knowing that he was right. Everyone nodded in agreement and Splendor smiled again. “ **Then, you are all dismissed.** ” he said. Everyone started leaving and Pain let out a breath of relief.

“Natalie, why did you do that!?” Pain exclaimed once they were out. Natalie glanced at him with her hands behind her neck. She hummed in thought before shrugging.

“Chris was pissing me off, so.”

“Really Natalie!? Please, don’t pick up fights.”

“Why are you worrying so much, doc? It’s not like I  **actually ** started one.”

“You’re right.” Pain said with a chuckle as he finally let himself relax. The way back to their small cottage was spent in silence. Not that it bother any of them, it was comfortable even. Enjoying the nature part of the city and the cold air of December. “Christmas is coming up.”

“Right, we should start doing the secret santa thing again.”

“What would you want, Natalie?”

Natalie rolled her eye. “What’s the rush? You might not end up being my secret santa, ya know?”

“Well, that is true, but I still want to give everyone a gift.”

“Of course you would.” Natalie stopped walking and Pain only stopped a few meters ahead of the woman, glancing back at her confused. Natalie put her hands on the pockets of her green jacket, her eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at her feet.

“Natalie?”

“Pain… do we really have to fight?” Natalie asked and Pain looked at her surprised. He never expected  **her ** to worry about things like that.

“I hope we don’t.”

Natalie snickered. “Hope, huh?”

“Is everything okay?” Pain asked calmly as he crossed his arms. Natalie glanced up at him, the brunette’s face had a grim expression. Natalie felt a knot in her throat and let out a drowned chuckle as a tear rolled down her eye.

“I’m tired of this life, Doctor.”

Pain knitted his eyebrows together and let his arms fall to his sides. “Natalie…”

“I used to love this, I used to think I was in the right,” Natalie croaked. “But just yesterday, I saw a girl around my age… living a normal life, laughing and not worrying about the guilt of killing innocent people.” Pain let her get everything out and as she sobbed, he walked closer to her and put a hand on her arm. “Sometimes I think of turning myself to the police.”

“Natalie, it’s okay, you’re fine the way you are.”

Natalie shook her head. “No, no I’m not,” she sobbed. “This is wrong… and to be honest, I just don't want to live like this anymore.” Natalie tried to wipe away her tear, but it wouldn’t stop. “I wished I had a restart button and live a normal life.”

Pain was silent.

“Well, I’m sorry, but there is no going back now,” Pain finally said. “You are here now, you chose this life and even if you regret it, you have to see it through.”

Natalie shook her head. “I don’t want that,” she looked up at him, her sad green eye staring at his yellow ones. “After christmas eve,  _ I will turn myself in _ .” She said, her voice quivering and brushing Pain aside. Pain watched Natalie’s shaking back move forward, but as shocking as that declaration was, he wondered if Pain was always this useless when it came to mental health of others around him.

“Oh Smiley, what would you have done?” he mumbled and while still letting the new information sink, followed Natalie back home. If she even considered that place her home.

* * *

Offender was cleaning the barstool with one tentacle, another one cleaning the cups for the drinks and the tall being himself was cleaning the tables of his small bar. The bar was only open at night, as with any usual one. However, Splendor and Trender walked in with exhaustion. Offender stopped cleaning and allowed his brothers to sit on one of the booths. 

“ **Oh my, what happened at the meeting?** ” He asked, sitting next to Trender. The youngest and eldest sighed. It wasn’t rare for them to be this tired, it has been happening a lot lately and by now they all know why.

“ **Same as usual.** ” Trender said in his sarcastic tone. 

“ **I just don’t know where did I go wrong,** ” Splendor said, holding his head in his hands. “ **Slender wasn’t like this before, so why?** ”

Trender snickered. “ **Because of that damn human, ** ** _obviously_ ** **!** ”

“ ** _Don’t_ ** ** blame this on Jeff! Before he even knew Slender, he was just trying to survive.** ” Splendore snapped at Trender.

“ **Oh yeah? Well look at Slender now! He shouldn’t have accepted that offer in the first place.** ”

“ **Okay, let’s all calm down here.** ” Offender chimed in, before his two brothers fought just when he was almost done cleaning the tables. The three of them stayed quiet, tension in the air and Splendor couldn’t help but burst into tears. Trender and Offender looking at the eldest in shock.

“ **Splendy?** ”

Splendor wiped away his tears. “ **I just… I just want my brother back.** ”

The other two felt the same, they knew that not even Jeff wanted that attention himself. But sometimes, they just wished those two wouldn’t have met. Maybe then, Slender would still be like how he used to before. Maybe then, Jeff wouldn’t have been traumatized.

Maybe this.

Maybe that.

But if there was something the three wanted the most was for Slender to talk to them again like before. To be treated like brother and not have their family bonds almost severed by the second eldest. It was ridiculous, since when did they become afraid of Slender? What happened to the little brother Splendor used to read books with? The older brother who scolded and took care of Offender? Or even the brother Trender would seek for help?

Gone.

They all knew deep inside that the Slender they knew was long gone. Dead even. And yet they still hope for the brother they all cared for to still be there deep inside. It wasn’t fair for any of them. Every other Pasta was seeing Slender in a bad light, as a monster everyone equally hates.  ** _They _ ** never saw the calm and reserved Slender the three of them knew.

And they probably never will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** I don't think anyone cares, but if you want to draw fanart, make memes or even playlist go ahead! Just let me know n.n **


	3. A House Full of Gamers & Secrets of A Dead Boy Who Still Suffers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Hello, sorry for not updating for so long, but I decided to prioritize this project. **
> 
> **Also! I decided to aged-up the characters even more, so before Jeff was 19 in my story, but now he's 22 and those are all the changes, I think. **

Ben has to admit that although he trusted his friends a lot, there were a few things that the elf has kept a secret to them. Normally, there are a few secrets that you haven’t told, not even your precious pet,  _ right _ ? Well, whether you do or do not does not matter anyway. There are only a handful of people who know Ben’s secrets, but he isn’t worried about them snitching to Slender or his friends.

It’s weird, but Ben even trusts these guys on what is going on in his life at the moment. Ben theorizes the reason behind this is because everyone in that house acts as a “therapist” to the other and instead of a house, it has become like a graveyard of secrets. Speaking of graveyards, Ben hasn’t visited his tomb since three years. Well, even if you are a ghost it would still be creepy to visit your own resting place.

“But dad invites me everytime, I can’t really refuse him.” Ben sighed as he walked by with grocery bags on his hands. Ever since he joined Slender’s side, he chose to live in a house instead of his game. A house right next an old man that does garage sales every once in a while, a house he’s known for years.

Mr. Lawman is or was his father when Ben used to be alive, the man still lives though he isn’t so young as to lift a box full of toys all by himself anymore. When Ben had moved into the house next door, he made sure to always visit his father… even though his housemates say that it’s hurting him even more.

“There he is.” A blue creature that resembles the actual Sonic, but with black eyes and red pupils was waiting for him. It would be hard to imagine a human sized Sonic standing in your living room with his arms crossed, but does anything even make sense in this fic anymore?

“Exe.”

“So, we need to talk.” Exe said and Ben put the groceries on the living room table. “But, after you’re done.” Ben rolled his eyes and took the groceries bags with him again as Exe jumped on the TV. After putting everything away, Ben changed into his link’s clothes and jumped into the TV.

Once inside, everything was dark with a few codes in green here and there. From each side, there were three doors. Ben entered the dark blue door and no matter how many times he’s been there before, it was still breathtaking to see the Green Hill Zone in the flesh. Albeit, a dark version of it. Ben walked at his own pace as he heard the waves of the red blood ocean clash against one another.

“Well, I’m here.” Ben said as he spotted Exe leaning against a palm tree. “What’s up?”

Exe glanced at Ben before looking back at the ground. “I’ve been thinking about my existence again.” Ben walked closer to Exe and leaned on the palm tree next to where he was. “I mean, if I wasn’t created as some stupid urban legend, I wouldn’t have ever existed.”

Ben remained quiet, the only thing that was best was to let Exe talk it out. “I’m just an ‘ _ Anomaly _ ’,” Exe sighed. “I exist because I was born out of the belief of a shit ton of morons who believed strongly to my legend.”

“Which is why I’m glad you were born.” Ben said as they turned to look at each other. Ben offered Exe a small smile. “I’m glad you exist, I don’t know how I would have dealt with these idiots if you weren’t here.” Exe chuckled and returned Ben’s small smile. A comfortable silence settled between them.

“Thanks, Ben.”

“No problem.” He said. Ben bid farewell to Exe as he started to run somewhere and walked back to the living room. He sat on the couch, exhausted. Ben grabbed the pillow of the couch and slammed it on his face as he let out a muffled scream. He put the pillow back and laid his head down on it. Ben kept thinking about a certain Woods and it wasn’t his best friend. He felt betrayed, Ben thought that Liu really considered him a friend. “Well, I am his brother’s best friend, why did I ever think he would trust me?” Ben asked no one in particular.

“Because you’re an idiot.”

“What do you want, Steven?” Ben sighed as he stared at the pokemon trainer with half his body out of the TV. Steven chuckled and rested his chin on his right hand with a smirk.

“Annoy you, of course.” Steven pulled back to avoid being hit by the pillow Ben threw at him before going back to his initial position. “But seriously, is this about the Woods brothers again?”

“So what if it is.”

“Nothing, but don’t you think it's weird to be friends with both of them?” Steven asked and Ben sat up with a frown.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if I was Jeff, I would be uncomfortable knowing that my best friend is in touch with a family member whom I don’t talk to anymore.” Steven said. Ben stayed quiet for a minute, widened his eyes once he realized something. Ben felt more guilty and excused himself to his room. Ben slid down the door and hung his head low. 

“I’m such a fucking idiot.” Ben mumbled. He hugged his knees and buried his face in them. He heard a phone ring and materialized his inventory to take out the burner phone he bought last year. “Hello?”

_ “Ben?”  _ Liu’s voice. Ben widened his eyes before glancing away in shame.

“What do you want?” Ben asked, feeling as though today was ‘Annoy Ben Day’. 

_ “Heh, Someone’s in a bad mood.” _

Ben sighed. “Liu, why did you call? The meeting isn’t until two days.” There was a long silence and Ben glanced at the phone worried.

_ “I thought you said I could call you whenever?” _

Ben felt all his mistakes caught up to him. “I’m sorry Liu, but I just realized that you and I should have never talked more than we should to begin with.” Ben said with a forced laugh. “Besides, you were using me to know about Jeff’s whereabouts and lied to me about yours.”

_ “Ben-” _

“You don’t even trust me, so I don’t know why I thought we could be friends.” Ben noticed his vision had become blurry and Ben closed his eyes to prevent any tears from falling down. Why does it hurt a lot? All Ben could see is Jeff with a hurt expression turning his back on him. “Stop talking to me, unless it’s about the plan.” Ben said before hanging up. He materialized his inventory and put the phone away.

He stood up and laid down on his bed. This was for the best, right? Ben’s blood tears started falling down, hitting and staining his pillow. Ben closed his eyes, he would do anything for his best friend. It was thanks to him that he was given the  _ Immunity Pass _ and saved him after all. 

* * *

“Are you okay?” Mr. Lawman asked as he glanced at Ben with a worried look. Ben smiled at his father in a reassuring manner, but the dark circles under his eyes contradicted everything.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? If you’re not feeling well we could always have dinner some other time.”

Ben shook his head. “I’m fine, really, besides tomorrow you’re going to visit your son right?” 

Mr. Lawman smiled sadly at the thought of that. “Yeah.”

Ben gulped. “I can go with you this time.”

“Really? But, don’t you have to work?”

Ben laughed. “You could say I was given some small vacations.”

Mr. Lawman smiled. "Alright, then we can meet up for breakfast before going."

"Sure." Ben said, though he was already regretting it on the inside. The things he does just to be with his dad.

* * *

"You look like shit." Johnny said, Liu rolled his eyes at him before he continued to sharpen his knives.

"He always looks like shit, that's his whole deal." Jason said, taking a seat next to Johnny. Johnny nodded in agreement. Liu just ignored them, but normally he would have at least tried to snap back at them. Jason and Johnny glanced at each other surprised. Something must have happened to have the youngest killer in such a bad mood.

“Maybe he fought with his brother again?” Johnny whispered to Jason.

“But they haven’t even talked since then, besides he looks worse than when he saw his brother.” Jason whispered back. As both friends tried to figure out what was wrong with Liu, Dr. Smiley walked into Liu and Jason’s room.

“Oh my, someone looks pretty down.” Smiley said, smiling teasingly as he glanced at Liu. Just like before, Liu decided to ignore everyone and focus on his knives. “You know, if something’s bothering you, you should try to talk it out with the person you’re having a problem with.”

“Hey, wait a minute Smiley! That’s suicidal.” Johnny said. Smiley raised an eyebrow at him. “Didn’t you see what happened when  _ you-know-who _ came last time?” He explained.

Smiley stared at him before chuckling. “I wasn’t referring to Jeff.” At that, Liu stopped his movements and glanced at the doctor. Smiley smirked at him. “Want a doctor’s appointment?”

Liu stood up.

* * *

“How do you know so much?” Liu asked once he sat down on the chair across from Smiley’s desk. 

“Well, I’m a demon so of course I know everything.” Smiley said with a chuckle. “So, you used to talk to Ben a lot, but since you look so down I assume something happened?”

Liu stayed quiet for a minute as he frowned and glanced at his feet. Smiley tried his hardest not to laugh, despite Liu being twenty-one already he looked like a sulking child at that moment. “Yeah, we… started talking when I was 17.”

Smiley nodded. Liu has been living with them for a year, so going back to that incident, Smiley knows that Liu at some point  _ did  _ live in Neutral territory. “And how long have you been in love with Ben?” He asked, smiling as he rested his chin on his right hand. It was fun to listen to love stories amongst their own kind, they were always funny or tragic.

Liu blinked and glanced up at Smiley surprised. “How did you…”

“It’s obvious to see and you wouldn’t be this upset if Ben didn’t mean anything to you.” Smiley said, his smile widened when (if he squinted closely) he saw the light blush on Liu’s cheeks and tip of his ears. “So, what happened?”

Liu sighed. “That’s what I want to know too.” Smiley hummed amused and encouraged Liu to continue. “When I walked out to the garden with my burner phone, I called him and,” Liu stopped, frowning again. “He said we should stop talking to me unless it’s important.”

“I see.” Smiley said. “I still think you should talk to him.”

“And how the fuck will I do that if Slender’s territory isn’t letting anyone from other sections enter?”

Smiley smirked. “Well, I never said you had to talk to him in his own house.” He said. Liu raised an eyebrow at him. “But anyway, tomorrow you’ll go visit your parents, right?”

Liu sighed. “Yeah.”

“Well, as a doctor, I already recommend talking to Ben but try to keep an open mind, kid.” Smiley said, opening the door for Liu. The younger Woods rolled his eyes. 

“I’ll try.” He said. 

* * *

“Ben, are you sure about this?” Silver asked, holding Ben’s scarf as he mentally counted the seconds before his arms disappeared. Ben smiled tiredly at Silver before taking the scarf. 

“Yeah, I mean, I have seen my own tombstone before.”

“Well, yeah, but we can see that it still hurts you.” Silver said, looking at Ben with a worried expression. Ben laughed and patted his friend on the head.

“I’ll be fine.” Ben said and before Silver could protest, Ben had changed into his human appearance and walked out of the house. Mr. Lawman was already waiting for him in the car. “I’m ready.” He said, forcing a smile. Mr. Lawman smiled back and started to drive away from Slender’s territory. They stopped by a small diner that they used to frequent a lot for breakfast. 

Despite Ben not coming in a long while, when he ordered “the usual”, the woman already knew what he meant. Now, Ben is already dead and he shouldn’t have any hunger. But, right now he is hanging out with his father and although he can no longer taste food (sometimes he eats out of habit), he needs to pretend to enjoy it.

“You know, even though I go visit my son sometimes,” Mr. Lawman chuckled as he took a sip of his coffee. “I have this strange feeling that he’s not really gone.” Ben might be dead, therefore he shouldn’t feel anything. Yet, why after so many years can he still feel pain in a heart that is no longer there?

Ben smiled sadly at his father. “Maybe he is, in a way.” He said, glancing at his half eaten omelete. “Maybe he is taking care of you from above.”

“Maybe.” Mr. Lawman said. “I pray that he’s already in peace.”

_ “I’m not.”  _ Ben thought. “I’m sure he is.” He ended up saying. After their breakfast, they continued on the road until they arrived at the graveyard. Ben’s right hand started trembling, but he stopped it by putting his other hand on top. “We’re here.” He said.

Mr. Lawman and Ben walked inside the graveyard. Ben was already feeling bad and could see a few ghosts wandering around here and there. Not that his father would see them. They arrived and Mr. Lawman replaced the withered flowers with a new small bouquet of peonies. Ben stared at his own resting place in secret distress. He gulped before glancing away.

As Mr. Lawman “catches up” with his son. Ben glanced around at the few ghosts in the area, there was a small boy running around while giggling, an older woman sitting atop of her tomb while a soldier was talking with her. Ben sighed and tugged a little at his green scarf. Somehow, he ended up thinking about Liu. How was he doing? Was he mad about what Ben had done? Probably. But it was for the best.

Besides, it’s not like he’ll meet him anytime sooner. Though, that black and white scarf from the gentleman over there does look identical. Ben froze and his (current) brown eyes connected with a familiar pair of green. “Oh, is that your friend?” Mr. Lawman asked once he noticed Ben was staring at something. 

“Y-Yeah, he is.” Ben said hesitantly.

“Oh well, you can catch up to him if you want, I don’t mind.” Mr. Lawman said with a kind smile. Ben felt like crying, but he only nodded and hesitantly walked over to where Liu was. 

“H-Hi.” Ben said, glancing away nervously. 

“Hi.” Liu said dryly. Ben was mentally cursing himself and tried to ignore the pain in his chest. Liu glanced back at the joint tombstone where his parents rested. “I thought you didn’t want to talk to me anymore.”

Ben flinched. “Well, yeah I don’t want to anymore.” Liu hummed and glanced at Ben, then at the man he was with. Mr. Lawman kept talking to his son’s tombstone. Ben noticed his gaze and crossed his arms. “ **Don’t ask** .”

“I wasn’t going to.” Liu sighed. He remembered what Smiley had told him yesterday and took a deep breath. “Hey, can I ask why you decided to stop all this?” He said, glancing at Ben. Ben felt his body tensed up and glanced down at his feet. He couldn’t tell Liu the reason why he cut connections with him. 

Ben dug his nails on his right arm. “I can’t tell you.” 

“Well, that hurts.” Liu said sarcastically, but Ben could really see the hurt in those pretty green eyes. Ben wonders if he is a defective ghost, one that somehow still feels pain and suffering. On second thought, isn’t that the only thing ghosts feel? But then,  _ why _ ? Why is it that even after they all died, they can still  _ feel  _ all those negative emotions. It doesn’t make sense to Ben.

“Sorry.”

“Is it because of my brother?” Liu asked and Ben looked up at him with wide eyes. Liu smiled bitterly. “So I was right.” There goes another reason to hate his brother and kill him.

“No, no, I-”

“That’s fine.” Liu said, putting his hands on his pants pockets. “I suspected as much.” Liu turned around to leave. Ben was feeling worse than before and wanted to reach out to Liu, but he couldn’t. No, he  _ mustn’t _ . Ben clenched his fists.

“I’m sorry.” Ben whispered as he saw Liu walk away. He felt tears threatened to fall and crouch down as he put both of his hands on his head. “I’m a real fucking idiot.” He let out a shaky sigh. Ben glanced to his right, the joint tombstone. The top read  _ Woods _ while the bottom had both Jeff and Liu’s parents' names. 

“Zack?” Mr. Lawman called out to him, putting a cautious hand on his back. “Are you okay? What happened to your friend?” Ben stood up and rested his forehead on Mr. Lawman’s shoulder. His father was surprised by the gesture, but didn’t mind it since he saw “Zack” like his own son. Ben couldn’t deal with all this guilt and regret, he was at his limit. Mr. Lawman started to pat his head when Ben couldn’t help but cry.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Mr. Lawman asked with a worried tone. Ben shook his head as he let out a sob. “I understand, but I’m always willing to hear you out, after all you’ve done so much to me.”

Ben closed his eyes as he tried to calm down. He was a real fuck up, wasn’t he?

* * *

Sally narrowed her eyes and pouted while holding her chin as she stared at two familiar black haired killers. Jeff glanced away nervously with a frown while Helen just stared back at her with an unamused look. She pointed at them. “Why haven’t any of you come visit me!?” 

Jeff sighed and Helen rolled his eyes. “Here we go again.” Helen sighed.

Sally dramatically put a hand on her chest and glanced away with an exaggerated sigh. “I guess when your children grow, they stop wanting to visit their parents.”

“Shut up, you are just older than us by a year!” Jeff exclaimed as he pointed at Sally annoyed. Sally took a deep breath before hitting Jeff in the head with a hardcover book. Jeff shouted in pain as he held his head and Helen put a hand on his mouth to avoid laughing.

“Kids these days.” Sally said annoyed. “Anyway, are you guys Christmas shopping?” Sally asked, her eyes shining while putting her hands together. 

“Yes, we are.”

“Are you guys doing the secret santa this year?” Jeff asked, putting his hands inside his hoodie pockets. Sally nodded enthusiastically. 

“Yeah!” She smiled, but then her face morphed into annoyance. “But sadly, I got Nathan.” Helen tensed up at the mention of that name. Jeff glanced at him. “What about you guys?”

“Us too, I got Nick.” Jeff said with a shrug. 

“I got Mr. Widemouth himself.” Helen sighed. Jeff and Sally patted his back. “Why does he have to be so damn picky!?”

“Why don’t we go together! I’m good at picking gifts.” Sally said with a smile. Helen teared up a little as he grabbed both of Sally’s hands.

“I’m in your care, mom.” Helen said. The three of them laughed.

* * *

“What would Nick want? Something medical related?” Jeff asked as he tilted his head to the side. Sally rolled her eyes.

“I don’t think a doctor would want medicine as a gift.” 

“She’s right, you know.” Sally perked up at the voice while Jeff made an annoyed face before both of them stared at Jack. He was staring down at Jeff with a smirk while Jeff looked away unamused. Sally glanced between them before smiling mischievously. 

“Long time no see, Jack!”

“Hey Sally! How is Pain?” Jack asked, knitting his eyebrows with a small smile. Sally put her hands on her hips as she sighed.

“He’s been spacing out a lot lately, but other than that good.” Sally said. “What are you guys going to do for Christmas? Me and Jeff will be doing Secret Santas!”

“Ah, that’s nice.” Jack chuckled as he glanced at Jeff with narrow eyes. Sally put a hand on her mouth so they wouldn’t notice her wide smile. “Though, we don’t really celebrate Christmas.”

“Ha? Why not?” Jeff asked, raising an eyebrow at Jack while putting a hand on his hip.

Jack shrugged. “We just don’t.”

Sally giggled. “Well, I’m glad we bumped into you Jackie! Jeff is picking a gift for Nick, but as you can see he only cares about him.”

“Can’t blame me.” Jeff said, rolling his eyes. Sally nudged him in annoyance.

“Can you help him? Helen is the one who needs the most help right now.”

“Sure, I have a lot of free time right now.”

Sally smirked. “Sure you do, well thanks!” Sally chirped up before walking to the electronics section, where Helen was buying a gift for Ben. She playfully hit Helen on his back, before smiling up at him. “Ready to pick Mr. Widemouth’s gift?”

Helen sighed. “Not really, but I trust you.” Sally and Helen walked around the mall, not really seeing anything that could be Mr. Widemouth approved. “Hey, you and Ben used to be very close, right?” Helen asked when they sat down on the food court for a break. 

Sally smiled sadly at Helen. “Yeah, we were.” 

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Did Ben ever hide something from you or try to shoulder everything by himself?” Sally widened her eyes before glancing down at her hands with a frown. Helen sighed, he saw it coming. Ben has been acting very weird ever since the meeting.

Sally knitted her eyebrows. “Ben… tends to do that a lot.” Helen rested his chin on his right hand, paying attention to what Sally wanted to say. “He would blame himself a lot whenever I got hurt by Slender,” Sally chuckled. “I remember how he used to hate Jeff because of that, but even I knew that Jeff didn’t ask for that.”

“Do you know if he has any secrets?”

Sally glanced away with a grim expression. “That’s not for me to say.” Helen felt hurt and frowned down at the table. “But, if you are asking me about this… then, he must be in great pain right now.”

“And, what do you suggest we do?”

Sally smiles sadly at him. “Wait for him and when he opens up, hug him as tight as you can.” Sally takes a deep breath and sighed. “After all, we are all battling with our own demons, are we not?”

Helen smiled. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Now, come on! I think I have an idea as to what gift would fit Mr. Widemouth.” Sally laughed and stood up full of energy. Helen chuckled as he followed Sally close behind. After the shopping is done, he would talk to Jeff about Ben.

* * *

“You look like total shit.” Exe said once Ben had returned from the graveyard. Ben was too tired to deal with the blue hedgehog, so he decided to ignore him and walked inside the TV. He opened the green door and a little wind hit his face. He stared up with blood-shot eyes at the Clock Tower.

There was no music playing, but Ben had already memorized it from a long time ago. He gave a small smile, remembering the nights he would stay up late in secret to play this game. “Home sweet home.” He said.

* * *

“You’re not going to eat dinner with us?” Smiley asked, opening the door to the small garden behind the hospital. Liu was sitting on the bench next to the door with one leg up and his arm resting atop of his knee. He shook his head as he stared blankly to whatever was in front of him, Liu wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings at the moment.

Smiley sighed and closed the door behind him, he leaned on the door and stared up at the night sky. It was clear to see that talking with Ben hadn’t worked out. “I hate my brother.” Liu said, breaking the silence. “I really hate him, that’s why I want to kill him.”

“I see.” Smiley closed his eyes and smiled.

“He… wouldn’t tell me.” Liu said, glancing down at the ground. Smiley hummed as he opened his eyes and glanced at Liu. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Maybe he has his own reasons.”

Liu snickered. “Like?”

“I don’t know, I’m not Ben.” Smiley said with a shrug. “But, well, you tried your best didn’t you?”

“I don’t know.” Liu said. Smiley sighed as he put a hand on his nape.

“I know your twenty-one, but you sure are as annoying as a teenager, you know?” Smiley said. Liu glared at him while the demon laughed. “In any case, it’s your choice now, are you going to give up on him like an idiot or battle your way in?” Smiley asked with a smirk and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Liu stared at him before glancing up at the dark sky. “Alright, I get it,” Liu clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Just leave me alone already.”

Smiley chuckled as he opened the door. “Oh my~ You and your brother sure are alike, huh?” He said before going back in. Liu glared at the door before standing up and taking a walk around the garden. He hated the most when people still treated him like a kid.

* * *

Three days have passed, it was time to go to the meeting. Though, Ben was nervous. He hadn’t come out of Majora’s Mask after that whole incident and although he received a lot of missed calls from his father and friends, he just isolated himself. When Ben walked out of Helen and Jeff’s TV, he was surprised to see Sadie with them.

“Ben!” Jeff shouted with a smile once he noticed his friend had come. Ben tried to say something before Jeff put an arm around his shoulders. “Tell these idiots that watching Beastars doesn’t make me a furry.”

Sadie laughed as Helen rolled his eyes. “Dude, just admit that you are a furry.”

“I’m not a furry, you asshole!” Jeff shouted in annoyance. Ben blinked before bursting out laughing. Yes, this is the same people he’s been friends with for a long time. He forgot for a moment there that these idiots would always be there to cheer him up. They are… his new family. 

Feeling slightly better, Ben smirked. “I mean, that’s debatable.”

“Come on!” Jeff sighed as Helen and Sadie made fun of him. 

“It’s rare to see you here, Sadie.” Ben said as he sat down next to Helen. 

“I know, I just came here to discuss what we should bring on Christmas and ended up talking about furries.” Sadie said with a smile. “Well, I still have some gifts to buy, so I’ll be leaving. It was nice to see you Ben. ”

“Bye Sadie.” 

“Tell Nick that he’s a pain in the ass for me.” Jeff said with a smirk. Sadie chuckled as she shook her head playfully. When Sadie left, it was back to being just the idiotic trio again. “Dude, you have no idea how hard it was to find a fucking present for Nick!” Jeff plopped down next to Ben and sighed dramatically.

Ben chuckled. “Oh? I thought you would end up buying him pills or something since he works with Nurse Ann.”

Helen snickered. “He was that close to do it.”

“Shut up! You couldn’t even choose Mr. Widemouth’s gift without help.”

Ben raised an eyebrow as he glanced between his friends. “You guys helped each other with the gifts?”

“Fuck no!” both killers said in unison. “Sally helped me.” Helen said.

“Sally?”

“We bumped into her when we were going to the mall.” Jeff explained. 

“Oh.”

Helen smirked at Jeff. “Though Jeff got helped by  _ someone else _ ~”

Jeff glared at Helen and Ben smirked in amusement. “Oh~ please do tell.” Jeff rolled his eyes.

“It was Jack, no big deal about it.”

“What!? Tell me everything!” Ben said, shaking Jeff by his shoulders. Jeff put a hand on Ben’s arm so he could stop and smiled arrogantly.

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.”

* * *

_ The day of Christmas shopping _

“I’ll just buy him a shirt and that’s it.” Jeff sighed, giving up when they were barely starting to look for a decent gift. Jack shook his head and rested his arm on Jeff’s shoulder. 

“Do you even know what size he is?”

“I don’t know, small?”

Jack hummed in thought. “What size are you? Let me guess, medium.”

“Well that’s obvious!” Jeff said, annoyed. “I don’t even know why you’re helping me, I can do it by myself with no problem.”

“Really now?” Jack asked with a smirk. Jeff felt like punching that smirk off his face. “Then go ahead and choose a shirt Nick would like.”

Jeff stared at him with suspicion. That was a trap and Jeff knew it. “You used to live in Slender’s territory, right?” Jack clicked his tongue in annoyance while Jeff smirked victorious. “You know Nick, right?”

Jack was quiet for a minute. “Yeah, we used to work together.”

“Oh, really?”

“Well, let’s just say I was part of the medical assistance in  ** _his _ ** jurisdiction.”

“Did you work with Nurse Ann too?” Jeff asked, feeling interested about Jack’s time living in the hellhole he is in right now. Jack sighed. He motioned Jeff to walk with him and stared at Jack, expecting.

“I was the main doctor there.”

“No shit!”

“Yeah, but that’s all in the past.”

Jeff pouted. “Why did you leave and  _ how _ ?” Jack stopped dead on his tracks and Jeff raised an eyebrow at him in confusion until he saw the glare Jack was giving him. He had hit a nerve he shouldn’t have.

“ **That’s none of your business** .” Jack said in a defensive tone. Jeff felt annoyed at that. He was just asking, he could have said he didn’t want to talk about it more nicely. 

“Well, sorry but if I’m going to help you, I think it  _ is  _ my business.”

Jack scoffed. “Right.” 

“If you’re not going to help, just leave me alone,” Jeff sighed. “I’ll give him money or something.” They stayed quiet for a few minutes, an awkward tension between them. Jack grabbed Jeff by the arm and pointed to a music store.

“Last I knew, he was most of the time listening to music,” Jack sighed. “I assume you two have similar music taste, so just buy him an album.”

Jeff glanced at him. “Uh, thanks?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna leave, I’ll see you in two days.” Jack said before ruffling Jeff’s hair and walking away. Jeff stared at his back unamused before walking inside the store and buying a Gorillaz album. He isn’t sure if Nick likes that type of music, but he could show him what  _ good  _ music is with that gift.

* * *

“And that’s what happened.” Jeff said with a shrug. Ben and Helen stared at him unamused. “What?”

“I thought it would be more-”

“Spicy.”

“Well sorry, but we just don’t get along that much.” 

“Right,” Helen said before standing up to stretch. “Well, any ideas on how to kill time before going to the meeting?”

  
  


* * *

Tim wanted so bad to just lay lazily in bed with Toby in his arms. Yet, here he was, guarding the “entrance” of Slender’s jurisdiction that led to the second neutral land. Tim knows about Jeff’s situation, but he can’t help but feel annoyed that their boss was acting like a cringy obsessive anime girl that those weebs like so much. A celopath as  _ real  _ people call it. “I wish I could get paid for this bullshit.” Tim sighed in annoyance.

“Masky!” 

“Well, if it isn’t Nina.” Tim said, crossing his arms as he noticed the young female killer. She was carrying a box with a strange logo. “Out on a delivery, I see.”

“Well, I gotta earn some extra bucks somehow,” Nina laughed. “Any plans for christmas?”

Tim shook his head. “None, Slender is unpredictable so we stopped celebrating it a long time ago.” 

“Oh, that’s sad.” Nina said, knitting her eyebrows together for a second. “Well, I must get going, but if you want to at least give a small gift to Toby leave us a call!” Nina said, winking before walking away.  _ A gift, huh?  _ Tim thought. Somehow, after the proxies agreed to stop celebrating Christmas, they haven’t exchanged gifts or anything of the sorts. Toby used to love his gifts and Tim loved to spoil him ever more that day.

“Hey, lover boy, our shift has ended.” Tim blinked and noticed his co-worker Brian waving a hand in front of his eyes. 

“That soon?”

“Well, we have nothing better to do.”

Tim sighed as he started to walk back to the mansion. “Why do we even have to do this? Now we are working  _ double  _ the amount we should have in the first place!”

“I know, but what can we do when our boss is horny over an idiotic killer.”

Tim snickered. “Well, he almost fucked Jeff.” Brian gave him a look at which Tim only rolled his eyes. “What? It’s the truth! The three of us were there.” Brian sighed. That incident is one the three of them wish to forget, but it wasn’t that easy. Everything involving Jeff was not easy.

Once they arrived at the mansion, Toby didn’t take long to leap into Tim’s arms as his partner caught him in surprise. Though his surprise quickly melted away as Toby gave Tim small kisses around his face. Tim chuckled and kissed him back on the lips. “I missed you too.” He said. Brian made a disgusted look before walking to the kitchen.

Toby got off him and intertwined his fingers with Tim. Tim kissed the back of Toby's hand with a smile and walked over to their room. They didn't have much time to themselves nowadays, so they like to spend their limited time talking while cuddling in bed.

"Wh-What's on y-y-your mi-mind?" Toby asked, glancing up at Tim. Tim hummed as he put a hand on Toby's cheek, stroking it before leaning down for a quick kiss. 

"How much I fucking love you." Tim said with a smile, his gaze softening. Toby laughed and Tim loves it. Who would have thought they would end up together? Neither of them foresaw that to be honest. One moment, Tim was telling Toby to shut the fuck up and the next he was making out with him.

Funny how life works.

Tim thought back on Nina's word. He decided to actually give Nina a call. But that would have to wait, right now all he wanted to do was be with Toby as much as he could before they got back to work.

* * *

Ben unconsciously put a hand on his neck as he silently walked behind Jeff and Helen. They were on their way to Smiley's, making sure that if Slender saw them they had to run for it. Helen nudged Jeff and glanced at Ben. Jeff sighed and slowed down to Ben's pace while Helen walked ahead of them.

"Yo, you're very quiet today."

"Sorry, I got lost in thought." Ben laughed nervously. “What’s up?”

Jeff stared at his friend before glancing away. “Remember when you used to hate me?” Jeff said with a smirk. 

“Yup, I was pretty dumb back then.”

“You are still dumb as fuck though.” Jeff laughed while Ben playfully nudged him. “Anyway, I’m glad we’re friends now.”

Ben felt his guilty conscience add another weight. “I feel the same.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page,” Jeff said, looking at Ben with a grin. Ben forced himself to act like his normal self, but Jeff noticed every time Ben would put a hand on his neck. A habit that he’s developed after a certain incident with Slender. While Ben carried a weight around his shoulders, Jeff carried another. Jeff can somewhat guess the trauma Ben has suffered thanks to him.

And sure, Ben could have other traumas, but adding new scars to an already broken person isn’t something to be proud of. Jeff put a hand on his left wrist and continued to talk to Ben. Helen glanced back at them and sighed.  _ Everyone has their own demons, huh?  _ He thought.

* * *

Smiley was already waiting for them before guiding them to the third floor and into a room that Jack had rearranged to make it into a meeting room. Jeff sat down on the opposite end of his brother and next to Smiley. Helen sat between LJ and Jason, so he could avoid Johnny as much as possible and the only seat left for Ben was between Johnny and Liu.  _ You gotta be fucking kidding me.  _ Ben thought. 

Reluctantly, Ben sat down and tried to keep a poker face. “Alright, now that we are all here,” Jack said, standing up. “We will be working on trying to gather as much intel as we can.”

“Why can’t we just ask Zero? She has a group for that stuff.” Johnny blurted out. 

“Have you ever gone to her place?” Smiley asked, raising an eyebrow in mockery. “You have to exchange information with her in order to get what you want and Zero is very good at her job so it’s pretty hard to exchange information with someone who knows almost everything.”

“Oh, right.”

Helen snickered. “What a fucking idiot.” Johnny glared at him. 

“Anyway,” Jack sighed. “I hope you assholes had a good rest during the day because we will be busy until dawn.” Jack smirked and Ben noticed Jeff was staring at Jack with the same smirk. 

“Too bad we aren’t together.” Liu said, glancing at Ben. Ben tensed up and glanced away, ignoring Liu’s gaze and words. That was going to be a long night, Ben was sure of that.

* * *

“How are we going to convince people anyway?  _ Hey, so there might be a high probability of a war, wanna side with us? _ It’s not that easy!” Jason whined. Ben was amused and annoyed at Jason. It was weird, to say the least. Although some of their kind have been killed before Ben, only a selected few became “famous” both inside and out. Like Ben when his game used to be passed around or Jeff, who’s been killing nine years now and his face has become known to the police and the people.

Jack is also famous, ever since a survivor managed to escape and took a photo of him, leaking it to the internet. What’s also weird is the city they live in, is like a Gotham but for killers and monsters alike. Mingling with humans in the day, killing them at night. Yet they keep coming and coming to this city. For morbid curiosity, of course.

“Let’s drop by with Dr. Pain, there’s someone I know there.”

“An acquaintance?” 

“An old friend.” Ben said, smiling sadly. How long has it been since he last spoke to Sally. They arrived at a shady looking hospital, one of those that you read on horror stories where the MC stumbles upon it on an eerily empty street at night. They walked in, but no one seemed to be in the reception. “Ahem, I came to speak with Sally.” Ben said out loud. A small brunet boy wearing a patient gown walked out from behind the reception counter. Just like Jack, he had no eyes and there was a stitched mark on his neck.

The boy pointed to the stairs. “Thanks.” Jason said as they walked passed the boy. On the second floor, there were some people going in and out of the rooms. Ben glanced around, but he couldn’t see Dr. Pain anywhere.

“Ben?”

“Sally!” Ben exclaimed once he noticed Sally was wearing a nurse outfit. “It’s been a while…”

“Yeah…” Sally smiled while knitting her eyebrows. “Are you guys coming for a check or?”   


“Actually, I wanted to speak to you, are you free right now?”

“Uh.”

“Nurse! Miss Janet passed out again!” Someone shouted from one of the rooms. Sally sighed before giving Ben an apologetic smile.

“Do you mind if you wait for a bit? I have my break after this.”

“Sure, we’ll wait in the reception.” Ben said. Ben and Jason walked back down, but the kid was no longer there and once again the reception was empty. The silence was awkward, at least for Jason. Ben was lost in thought, thinking about what he was going to buy for everyone. 

“So, um, how long have you known Sally?”

“Fifteen years.”

“Wow, that’s… a lot.”

“Yeah, we met when we were kids after all.”

Jason gasped. “You mean you’ve met before dying!?”

Ben didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. “No, I meant that when met after we had barely died.”

“Oh, right.” Jason laughed nervously.  _ What is wrong with you Jason!? That was obvious! Get a hold of yourself.  _ Jason thought. “And how did you meet?”

Ben put a hand on his neck and glanced at his feet. “Slender introduced us, he said that since we were still kids we should be close.”

“I see.” Jason said.  _ He’s only three years younger than me, but he’s been killing since he was a kid, huh? Wait, has he actually killed someone? I think he would just drive his victims into suicide.  _ Jason thought. “You and Sally were close, right?”

Ben smiled. “Yeah, we were like siblings.” Ben laughed, remembering the times they would fight because Sally wanted to play his games or the times when they both would play in the forest.

Jason widened his eyes when he saw the fond expression Ben was making. Jason felt uncomfortable. “Ahem, is it true that you’re not killing anymore?”

“Yeah.”

“How can you stay with Slender if that’s the case?”

Ben gulped. “Well, Slender has this thing called  _ Immunity Pass _ ,” He explained. “He gives it to those who decided to  _ retire _ from killing, but since they have nowhere to go, they want to have the right ro remain where they are.”

“Huh, that sounds similar to one of our laws.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, though ours it’s called  _ Retirement Fee _ .” Jason said, smiling as he finally made progress on talking with his temporary partner. “Hobo is more of an expert on what it entails, but it’s kind of like the Immunity Pass.”

Ben glanced at Jason, interested in how Zalgo’s jurisdiction works compared to Slender’s. “Sorry to keep you guys waiting! Let’s go to talk at Offender’s, is that okay with you guys?” Sally said, having changed her nurse outfit for a casual pink dress. Jason looked at Sally surprised, sure she was and didn’t look like a kid anymore, but her looks didn’t make her seem like the type to drink.

“Sure, I don’t mind.” Ben said. “It’s been a long time since I went there anyway.”

“I’m okay with that too.” Jason said. As they walked towards Offender’s Tavern, Ben and Sally caught up after so long. The more Jason spent time with them, the more he noticed that they really acted like siblings. 

“I’m about to finish the Demon Slayer manga soon, by the way.” Sally said, smiling sheepishly.

“Girl what the fuck? We’re already in December and you still haven’t finished it?”

“Well sorry, I like to take my time reading a story! Unlike you and Helen that finish a nine hundred anime in two days.”

“Pft, amateur! I finished it in one and besides, we skipped a lot of the filler episodes for One Piece.”

“Anyway, I want to cosplay Nezuko!” Sally chirped and dramatically took a deep breath as she put a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Would you do me the honor of being Tanjiro?”

Ben smirked. “Are you kidding? The honor is all mine!”

“Yay!” Sally and Ben laughed. Jason knows that they aren’t really a couple, but he still feels like a third wheel. Left out of the conversations because he isn’t a weeb. In fact, why are some killers into anime anyway? What’s so good about that that even a cold-blooded killer would become obsessed with an asian cartoon?

“Offendy! Give me a Bittersweet Boba.” Sally shouted once they arrived at the tavern. Some killers were already there and looked at Sally confused for a moment before realizing  _ who  _ she was.

“Well, well, someone’s in a good mood.” Offender chuckled as he started to prepare the drink. Sally, Ben and Jason sat on the bar counter. “And what would the gentlemen like?”

“Old Fashion for me.” Jason sighed.

“Daiquiri.” Ben smiled. Offender nodded.

“Coming right up.” He said as he gave Sally her drink. 

Sally happily took a sip of her drink, blood pouring down from her head. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

Offender gave Jason and Ben their drink and offered a wet towel to Sally. She thanked him and wiped her face. “Well, it’s not so easy to talk about it.” Ben said, taking a sip of his drink. “I don’t want to alarm you, but what would you do if-”

“A war breaks out?” Sally said quietly. Ben and Jason looked at her surprised. “Pain told us all about the meeting that happened on our side, right now everything is just theories.”

“Right, theories.” Jason said, glancing away with a frown.

“Since you two are together, it makes me think like there won’t be a war.” Sally said with a smile. She took a sip of her drink before closing her eyes and resting her chin on her right palm. “I don’t really want to choose, I rather not come out if that ever happens.”

Ben and Jason glanced at each other. “What if you had no choice?” Jason asked, resting his chin on his right fist. “Who would you choose?”

Sally hummed and sighed. She glanced at Ben and smiled. “Wherever Ben is, I’ll be there.”

Ben smiled back at Sally, feeling touched. Jason sighed, but gave the “siblings” a smile. It wasn’t much, but they have one ally now. “Well anyway, Sally, are you not killing anymore too?”

Sally laughed. “I do, but I help Pain on Wednesdays and Saturdays.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” 

“Yeah, by the way, is that all you guys wanted to talk about?” Sally asked, tilting her head in confusion. Ben and Jason tensed up. They tried to come up with some stuff, but nothing came to mind. So Ben let out whatever was on his mind.

“L-Love advice!” Ben said, feeling his cheeks warm. “I wanted to ask you for love… advice.” Ben said, glancing away nervously. Jason blinked and looked at Ben surprised while Sally’s face was light up like the first time she discovered anime.

She put an arm around Ben’s shoulder and teared up a little. “Tell me everything, my son.”

* * *

“I want to apologize about what happened that time.” Jack said, Jeff hummed as he watched Jack sit down next to him with a thick folder. They were the only ones that stayed behind since what they were doing was basically exchanging information that they had of Slender and in Jack’s case confirm or debunk some rumors. 

“Well, whatever, you said it wasn’t my business anyway.” Jeff said, annoyed. Jack sighed and opened the folder.

“I used to live and work in Slender’s jurisdiction,” Jack said, carefully touching the notes he’s made ever since he arrived here. “I was the main doctor there.”

“Yeah, you already told me that.”

“I know, but, it’s strange.” Jack said, re-visiting the parts he’s written about Jeff. “During all my time there, I’ve never crossed paths with you.” Jack said, frowning. Jeff rested his chin on his right and stared at Jack. It was true, they’ve never crossed paths and what was even more weird was Jeff didn’t know who Jack was before. He was one of the “Originals”, so he should know everyone that was started killing around the same time Jeff was.

“Maybe we just never had the time, Slender would always tend to my own wounds because he didn’t want others to touch me.” Jeff said with a shrug. Jack blinked and sighed.

“Yeah, you might be right.” Jack said. “Anyway, do you know how his  _ modus operandi  _ is?”

“Not really, I would always do my own shit, but I did notice that the proxies would make sounds before running away sometimes.”

“I think I know what you mean, I never really saw what Slender’s proxies are good at, but I think they lured Slender’s targets.”

“Oh, Tim said something similar,” Jeff frowned, trying to remember his time in Slender’s mansion. “He said something about how Slender only lets them have their fun if it’s a group of victims rather than one.”

“Interesting.” Jack said. “Is it true that his victims are mostly kids?”

Jeff hummed. “Not all the time? Brain said that ever since they became proxies, they’ve been killing only campers or anyone who stepped inside the forest.”

“So you don’t know if before that he would kill only kids.”

“Nah.”

Jack hummed, tapping the files with his pen. “You know, when I was living there,” Jack said, leaning back on the chair as he crossed his arms. “I remember Slender would hold these meetings where everyone living under his jurisdiction would go to his mansion and basically have like a town meeting.”

“Oh, I remember those! They were so boring.” 

“I don’t remember seeing you there?”

“That’s mostly because I was always behind everyone, even after moving in with Helen.”

“Ah, that explains it, I was always at the front.” Jack said, smiling at Jeff. Jeff felt something weird on his chest. He can’t really explain it, but it was nice to be talking like this with Jack. It felt nice. “I wonder why he decided to stop having these meetings though.”

Jeff shrugged. “I don’t know and I don’t care.” They both laughed. Jack also felt a weird sense of familiarity with Jeff. It was like talking to someone he knew for a long time. Jack shook his head, there was a reason why he was doing all this for and he wasn’t going to dwell much on unnecessary stuff.

“Was living in that mansion fun?”

Jeff tensed up, he stared blankly at Jack. “There’s nothing fun in that place.”

“I mean, the proxies weren’t so bad, right?”

“Eh, so-so.” Jeff said, sighing. “Can I ask why did you leave or are you going to be a bitch about it again?” He asked, pouting. Jack chuckled and looked at the table in front of them. 

“I didn’t leave, I was kicked out.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows surprised. “Really? Why?”

Jack felt his body become stiff. “I rather not say.” Jack sighed and picked up his pen again.

“Come on! Don’t leave me intrigued like that.”

“Sorry not sorry.”

“Jackass.”

“Dumbass.”

“Asshole.”

“Moron.”

“Jerk.”

“Bitch.”

Jeff laughed. “This is ridiculous.”

“Hey, you started.” Jack said, smirking at Jeff. Jeff rolled his eyes with a playful smirk and mumbled a ‘ _ whatever _ ’. Jack decided to continue with the information exchange. Both of them were careful enough to not speak about their own issues that have and are still suffering because of the tall monster. Something at the back of Jeff’s head told him that there was something weird, but he couldn’t really know what exactly.

“I wonder what would have happened if we met.” 

“I’ll probably annoy you.” Jack said, leaning his arms on the table and looking playfully at Jeff. “You look fun to mess around with.”

“Hey!” Jeff pouted as Jack laughed. “Then, I would probably annoy you back.”

“Sounds about right.” Jack smirked as Jeff smacked him in the arm. “Let’s stop talking about other stuff, that’s why we keep getting distracted.”

“Ho?  _ I  _ distract you?” Jeff mockingly smiled at Jack. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

If Jack could do it, he would have rolled his eyes. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Is that a challenge?” Jeff said, leaning a little closer with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Jack stared at Jeff with a mischievous smile, something about him really piques his interest. Just when he was about to say something. He, once again, had to remind himself  _ why  _ he was doing this.

Jack’s playfulness vanished and sighed. “No, let’s keep working and this time without distractions.” Jeff noticed the change in moods of the cannibal and clicked his tongue. He didn’t really get him, he was like Katy Perry’s song from 2008. Jeff won’t admit it, but he was disappointed? He wanted to… Jeff isn’t sure what he was doing to be honest. All he knew was that he liked it, but it sucked that Jack wouldn’t reciprocate that.

_ That sounded gay.  _ Jeff thought. “No homo.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Jeff said, shaking his head and cringing about his stupidity sometimes. “What were you saying?” Although Jeff was paying attention to Jack and sharing more info, Jeff’s mind was elsewhere. 

* * *

Zalgo tapped the desk with his claw-like finger. He had been paying close attention to everything that was happening in his jurisdiction. Making sure everyone had everything they needed for their jobs, implementing new laws that were beneficial to everyone and keeping his end of the bargain that he’s made with Slender. Yet, he was feeling restless.

“Mister Zalgo?” A minion walked into his office, in his hands were dark, almost burnt documents. “I brought the thing you had requested.”

“Bring it here.” Zalgo said, sitting upright and almost snatching the documents out of the minion’s hands. He blew fire into the documents, restoring them as if nothing had happened. Zalgo read the content and sighed in relief. But he couldn't let his guard down. 

“Mister Zalgo?” 

“Ah, that's everything for now, you may leave.” Zalgo said. The minion nodded and walked out. Zalgo sighed and glanced at the papers again. “It could have been worse.” 

Now, all that was left was to see their development. How long will they continue to sleep? Slender might have tricks up his sleeves, but it pales in comparison to Zalgo's experience. Nevertheless, everything is ready to be set in motion. “Who will win this match this time, I wonder?” Zalgo said with a sinister smirk.

* * *

Tim squinted his eyes as the sun set up. How fucking long has it been since he’s had a proper night rest? The three of them would only have a few hours of sleep before waking up again to guard the fucking entrances of their side and since Slender didn’t think he and Toby would do a good job together, he has to guard the second entrance  **alone** .

“I should get paid for this bullshit.” Tim gritted. He dragged himself back to the mansion and he couldn’t even arrive at his own room, he passed out on the couch. Brian was already asleep while sitting on the dining table and Toby was the only one that managed to arrive at his bed. Splendor walked inside the mansion and noticed two of his brother’s proxies half dead.

“ **Oh my** .”

“ **Splendor, what brings you here?** ” Slender said, appearing right in front of his older brother. Splendor smiled and was glad that his brother at least acted like he used to before. 

“ **I came here to discuss the meetings that happened a few days ago in the Neutral areas.** ” Splendore said, putting his hands together. “ **Can we speak in your office?** ” 

“ **Sure.** ” Slender said. Both of them disappeared in the blink of an eye. Brian sat up and with heavy bags under his eyes he turned to look at Tim’s corpse on the couch.

“Yo, you heard that?” Brian asked. Tim muffled a ‘ _ Shut up, I’m sleeping _ ’ and Brian yawned as his body begged him to sleep. “I hope it’s nothing bad, we’re already suffering as it is.” Brian said. Then as his eyes were about to close, he laughed. “Imagine if-” Brian couldn’t even finish before he fell dead on the dining table. 

* * *

“Do you remember when EJ used to work with us?” Nurse Ann asked, checking out some documents. Nick glanced at her with an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, but why bring him up now?”

“You used to be so scared of him in the beginning.”

“H-Hey!” Nick’s cheeks were tainted in pink. “I was a rookie, okay?”

Nurse Ann closed her eyes, putting the documents down for a minute. “I just remembered him because there are still some medical notes left from him.”

“Ah, now that I think about it, Jack used to write a lot of notes.”

“He was  _ obsessed  _ with notes.” Nurse Ann chuckled as she glanced at Nick. “I hope he’s doing well over at Zalgo’s.”

Nick sighed. “Don’t let Slender hear you say that name or else.”

“I know, I know.” Nurse Ann said. She put the documents back in the archive.  _ Hopefully he recovers soon _ . Nurse Ann thought as she stared out the window.

* * *

Jack groaned in pain at the incoming headache. Jeff and his friends were gone, but Jack decided to come into his “secret” room. Jack decided to sit down and take a small break. After all, no matter how hard he tried to remember, his memories wouldn’t come back just like that. He stared at the ceiling, remembering the time he spent with Jeff. 

“I should be careful.” Jack mumbled. He glanced towards his left side, the whole wall was covered in notes, papers and a photo of Slender stuck to the wall with a knife. There are two major questions Jack hasn’t been able to answer since five years ago.  _ Who am I?  _ and  _ Who are you? _ The last question referring to the person his heart tells him he’s missing, yet he doesn’t remember who it was.

All he knows is that Slender is keeping them away somewhere in his jurisdiction and Jack  _ needed  _ to bring that person back to him. He stood up and turned off the lights as he walked out of the room. Locking it.

He walked out to the garden and sat down with a defeated look. Just who was it? The one Jack would embrace the most, the one he would tease and the one he would feel the most alive with? “Why can’t I remember?” Jack mumbled. Whoever it was, he just wanted them back so bad.

* * *

Jeff felt a sudden shiver and buried himself deeper into his sheets. “That damn creep must be talking about me again.” He said before putting his eye mask on and dozing off to sleep. 

* * *

“Zack! Good morning.”

“Good morning, Mr. Lawman.” Ben said, smiling. 

“You’re early today.” Mr. Lawman laughed as he opened his garage, revealing a neat set of tables with old stuff ready to be sold. 

“Well I got to sleep earlier than usual.” Ben lied. He sat down next to Mr. Lawman.

“That’s good to hear.” Mr. Lawman laughed. “So, how is college treating ya?” Ben smiled as he started to talk to his own father. Exe sighed as he watched through the kitchen window his friend suffer. No matter how many times everyone has told Ben to stop since it’s not helping him, there he goes again. He would go visit his father every day, help him with his garage sales and even go so far as to visit his own grave just to be by his father’s side.

“For someone who is supposed to be dead, he sure acts like he’s alive, huh?” Exe mumbled. He ran back to the TV, leaving his friend behind as he continued to drown on his own sorrows and regrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** This lengthy chapters take some time to write, so I can't promise an exact date for when the next update will be. I'm sorry, but please be patient with me. ToT **


	4. A White Canvas With Scars Somebody Else Left

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** I'm back! I just want to say that the comments you guys leave I do read them, I may not answer them, but I really do appreaciate each and every one that is left on this story haha. I never expected for anyone to be interested in this fic, but oh well, thanks for reading this! **

Helen took out the “red paint” that had gone bad after stocking it for so long. He has yet to find a way to keep it from going bad and that he shouldn’t store all of it in buckets of paint. Everytime it happened, Helen would feel embarrassed to ask Mr. Widemouth to get rid of them. Helen knocked on the door and a strange gremlin-cat looking creature opened it. Helen wasn’t good at coming up with ways to describe people.

“Ah, Helen, come in, come in!” Mr. Widemouth said, staring up at him and opening the door wide for him to enter. Helen thanked him before walking in and setting the buckets of paint next to the bookshelf. “Thanks for the paint.”

“Sorry for troubling you with it.”

Mr. Widemouth laughed. “Don’t worry about it, kid.” He said. “Want some coffee? I have water too.”

“No, it’s fine! I don’t want to intrude or anything.”

“Stop being so polite, will ya? Coffee or water?” Mr. Widemouth asked. Helen sighed in defeat.

“Water, please.”

“Gotcha!” Helen sat down on the old style couch, smelling the weirdly familiar scent of incense. “Here ya go kid.” Mr. Widemouth said, setting down a glass of water on the coffee table. Helen nodded and took a sip. There was an awkward silence before Mr. Widemouth spoke again. “Still can’t paint?”

Helen sighed. “No.”

“Why don’t you ask Slender for a break?” 

Helen shook his head. “No, I can’t.”

“Why not?” Mr. Widemouth asked. Helen stayed quiet, clutching on the glass of water. Mr. Widemouth stared at him quietly before glancing away. “I won’t insist then, but take it easy on you.” Mr. Widemouth jumped off the couch and patted Helen’s knee with a smile. “You’re safe here, remember that.”

Helen gave Mr. Widemouth a small tired smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem! You can stay here the time you need to be.” Mr. Widemouth said. Helen nodded and finished his glass before saying goodbye and coming back to his shared apartment. Jeff was waiting there, bored out of his mind on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Helen could see that his friend was bothered by something.

“Everything okay?” Helen asked as he plopped down on the one seat couch. Jeff glanced at him before sitting up and resting his arm on top of the couch. Both killers stared at each other before Jeff sighed and smirked.

“Yeah, just bored.” Jeff lied and Helen knew this already. And since he didn’t want to burden Jeff, he would just pretend to go with the flow and just like Sally said, wait for him to open up. If he even does.

“Want to grab some food then?” Helen said, motioning the door with his head. Jeff snickered.

“Hell yeah.”

Somehow, as Helen closed the door to their apartment, he had a bad feeling. Of what exactly, he wasn’t sure. Helen used to be very alert on this type of thing, never giving the enemy a chance to attack and always ready for everything. So what happened to him? Well, as a certain blonde with black eyes nagged at him from the back of his mind, he distracted himself by talking about anything with Jeff.

There are some memories you rather not invoke. Ever. Sure, they can serve as a way to make you strong, but that doesn’t mean you have to relive that every second or that you’ve become numb to the pain it brings sometimes. You see, a scar does not have to be physical. A person could carry a lot of scars inside and we might never know. As edgy and emo as that sounds. Helen wondered, if emotional and psychological wounds could be visible, how many would he have? Would his body be fully covered on them or only certain parts?

What about his friends? His exes? Family, etc. etc.

Helen sighed and asked himself since when was the world so dull. So grey, without a hint of color. Heh. Perhaps he should just paint his canvas grey, but which tone? The darkest one could be an option. But, does a killer like himself even  _ need  _ to see the world with colors? He’s always been serious and even cold, isn’t that perfect for someone like him? 

“You know, I don’t believe in Heaven.” Helen suddenly spat as he set the half eaten burger down. Jeff stared at him with an eyebrow raised. He was ready to order a McFlurry, but sensing his friend was in a bad mood, he refrained from doing so. For now.

“Bro, I don’t even believe in God.” Jeff said, trying and failing at comforting his friend. 

Helen chuckled. Perhaps he hadn’t failed. “True, but if Heaven does exist, then this must be Hell.” They stared at each other before bursting out laughing. Man, that was one cringy line. Helen felt a lot lighter and despite not voicing it, he was really glad that Jeff was there. A best friend he wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

“You’re cringy as fuck.”

“Says the photoshoped Barney.”

“Hey!” Jeff pouted as Helen laughed. What was there to worry for? Helen was overthinking things after all. Bad habits die hard, huh?

* * *

_ Have you ever been in a relationship where deep down you know it wasn’t healthy, yet continued to stay? Helen stared at the back of  _ ** _that person _ ** _ leaving, Helen tried to run after them and apologize for not being good enough, but he was having a hard time breathing. In fact, the knife stuck right below his lungs prevented him from even standing up. _

_ Blood poured out of his mouth and as his eyesight became blurry, someone he’s never seen before and a blur of green rushed inside his apartment. He raised a shaky hand towards them as they got closer. Helen passed out after that. _

* * *

Helen woke up and checked out the hour on his digital clock right next to his bed. The faint neon red numbers marked the time as 7: 37 p.m. 

_ Fuck.  _ Helen thought as he groggily sat up and rested his head on his hands.  _ How long have I been sleeping? _ Helen stared at the line of light that his almost closed door made. Jeff had come to check up on him, Helen was sure. He didn't want to worry his friend more than he already is, so he dragged himself out of bed and took a cold shower. Didn't matter if it was winter. 

“Look who decided to wake up.” Jeff said, glancing up from his UNO cards. Helen was drying his hair as he noticed Ben, Sally and Sadie were sitting in the living room. All of them had a poker face. If Helen didn’t see the UNO cards, he would have thought they were playing poker instead.

“Right, who’s winning?”

“I’ve won seven times in a row now.” Sally said with a grin as she held a peace sign with her free hand. 

“Oh, that reminds me, how did you get past the proxies?” Helen said, sitting on the one seat couch as he glanced at Sally.

Sally chuckled mischievously. “Lucky for me, Benny can smuggle me in without being caught.”

Ben felt his cheeks warm up in embarrassment at the old nickname. “Sally! I told you to stop calling me that.”

Sally pouted. “But it’s cute though! Right, Sadie?” 

“Sure.” Sadie with a smirk while Ben glared at her. Helen chuckled and watched as they played. However, Helen was paying as much attention as he usual is. His thoughts drifted to a slowly growing ominous feeling on his chest. Like something bad was going to happen. Not to his friends or their allies, but to himself. Something bad was going to happen to Helen and although he looked calm on the outside, he was on edge on the inside. 

* * *

Johnny was not looking forward to today. He was stuck with his arrogant rival and because of him, they almost got discovered by Tim yesterday. He tried, once again, to convince EJ to change partners. He rather work with Jason or even Jeff, but EJ outright denied him that. He had no choice but to stick with his victim stealer, how great. 

When their allies arrived, Johnny glared at Helen. The painter, of course, ignored him.

“You better not screw up like last time.”

Helen raised an eyebrow at him. “Screw up? Me?” He laughed dryly. “You’re the one who almost gave away our location.” Helen glared. Johnny felt his patience run out and before he could snap back at him, Smiley pushed the both of them out.

“Now, now,” Smiley said with a sinister grin. “ ** _We have jobs to do_ ** .”

“Y-Yes.” Johnny said, tensing up at the imposing atmosphere the demon gave when he was strict. Helen snickered at him, but Johnny took a deep breath and decided to give him the cold shoulder. They walked separately to the other side, though smuggling Johnny was not easy since they had to enter Slender’s Jurisdiction if only for a while.

Once they settled on the second neutral area, they noticed Tim was looking as dead as ever. Heavy dark bags under his eyes, a coffee from the local Starbucks. You know you’re too tired and fucked when you order from that place. Normally, as Jeff mentioned, Tim would already be ready for work and make himself his own coffee back at the mansion. Yet here he was, drinking coffee from the place he despises the most.

“He’s fallen that low, huh?”

“Slender must be overworking them.” Helen said, feeling sorry for the proxies. At this point, everyone knows the reason why. Unfortunately, unbeknown to Jeff himself, the killer is making himself more enemies even within the jurisdiction he lives in. Of course, those who know Jeff like Helen and Ben will know that Jeff is also against this. But to the rest? In all honesty, they are secretly wishing for Jeff to be banned or be caught by the police and locked away somewhere far away.

“I expected for this to be different.” Johnny sighed as he glanced away with a sigh.

Helen rested his arms on the table. “Well, our job is just watching and it’s pretty easy too, so I don’t mind.”  _ In fact, I like it better this way.  _ He thought. Johnny sighed and stared at the glass of water he ordered. It was getting boring.  _ I bet Kagekao is having fun _ . Johnny thought as Kagekao’s mood seemed to have increased as he can now see Brian again.

It was then that Helen saw a ghost from the past. His eyes widened and his whole body tensed up. Helen gripped his left wrist and tore his eyes away, he must not make eye contact. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

“Hey, are you okay? You look pale.” Johnny said, raising an eyebrow. Helen was staring wide eyed at the table, his breathing seemed to be getting short and Johnny was a little concerned. Not about his well-being, fuck that shit. But if his odd behaviour keeps up, then their cover will be blown. Helen didn’t respond, he kept glancing at everything except for the window.  _ Weren’t we supposed to be watching?  _ Johnny thought. 

He glanced out the window. Tim had “rested” his eyes on the bench he was sitting in, but a few meters away from Tim was a man with long black hair with heterochromia eyes. He was staring right at them… or rather at his partner.

“Hey, is that guy someone you know?” Johnny asked, but Helen let out a gasp before biting his lip and glaring at the table. Johnny was surprised, he’s never seen his rival be so on edge like this.  _ Was he his ex-partner or something?  _ Johnny thought as he stared at Helen with a frown. It wasn’t uncommon for people like them to hook up with others, but Johnny was surprised for other reasons. Last he heard, Helen was dating Judge Angel. Is that not true anymore?

Johnny glanced back again, but that guy was nowhere to be found and Tim had woken up, the proxy was back to begrudgingly keep watch of the entrance as if he was a damn dog. “It’s been a while.” The deep voice almost started Johnny. The guy from before was now standing right next to Helen and Helen was, well he had looked towards the window. Not facing the stranger, Helen was biting into his nails. “Still not talking to me, huh?”

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, do you guys know each other?” Johnny asked. The stranger turned towards Johnny, his smile morphing into an uninterested look.  _ What a jerk.  _ Johnny thought.

“You could say that, yeah,” The stranger forced a smile. “I’m Nathan, by the way, you are?”

“Johnny, but you might know me as the puppeteer.”

“Ah,  _ that  _ puppeteer?”

Johnny smirked. “The one and only.”

“Mm.” Nathan hummed before turning his attention back to the painter.  _ Seriously, what a fucking jerk!  _ Johnny thought, feeling mad already. “How have you been lately?”

No answer.

“I was thinking about you, you know? I know we ended up on a bad note, but I was seriously worried about you all this time.” 

Helen clenched his left hand into a fist. His glare intensified.

Nathan sighed, though Johnny thought it sounded fake. “I know I fucked up, but all I want to say is that I miss you.” Johnny looked at Nathan skeptical before he noticed that Helen was bleeding from biting his nails so hard. Before he could say anything, Nathan turned around to leave. “Have a nice day, sorry for bothering you.”

Once he was gone, Helen slammed his hand and let out a long sigh. Johnny was surprised and awkwardly glanced away. Tim still didn’t notice them, good. Helen wiped away the blood from his fingers and refused to look at Johnny. The puppeteer put a hand on his nape and glanced to his right. “I take it he’s not your friend.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Helen said, glaring up at Johnny and his tone defensive. Johnny raised his hands, but didn’t say anything else. However, he wondered what had happened. By how intense that reaction had been, Johnny could guess that Nathan had done something bad to him. Betrayal, maybe? That was too much for it to be simply that. 

Right?

* * *

The first thing Jeff noticed when they were all reunited was Helen’s dull look. And sure, Helen has always been a stoic person, but Jeff could see in his friend’s eyes that something had happened. The last time he saw Helen like that was after  ** _that_ ** incident and it worried him, though he wouldn’t admit it out loud. Which is why, before they left, Jeff pulled Johnny aside.

“Did something happen today?”

Johnny blinked. “Huh?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, something happened, right?” Jeff asked annoyed. Johnny stared at Jeff before glancing back at Helen, who was trying to convert Jason into a weeb with Ben. 

“I’m not sure if I should-”

“Was it Nathan?”

Johnny perked up at the name and Jeff clenched his fists as he frowned. Of course, Helen wouldn’t look so depressed if the source of his trauma didn’t come back again. It has been a few years, but Helen still bears those scars from a relationship that almost killed him. Literally.

“If you don’t mind me asking, who is that guy?” Johnny said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. 

Jeff glanced at Johnny. “Our number one enemy.”

“I thought Slender was your number one enemy?”

“He is, both of them are my number one enemies.” Jeff scoffed. “I won’t forgive Nathan for what he did to Helen.” He snapped. Johnny blinked and looked at the killer surprised. He’s seen his rival pull up the tallest walls when he met Nathan and now he is seeing Jeff’s murderous intent towards another fellow killer. Yup, this was something beyond betrayal.

By the time it was time to go, Jeff didn’t know how to approach Helen. The painter was doing well, he was or seemed to be getting over it. To see the man who broke him must have caused some sort of relapse. Or re-opened the psychological wound left on Helen. Shit, he should have asked Jack some advice since he was a doctor or Smiley. 

Ben and Jeff, although they would always be there to support their friend, they didn’t know how to approach Helen without making him remember painful things. The only person who could get Helen to open up was Angel but she’s…

Jeff stopped. Ben and Helen noticed, turning around to see why Jeff stopped. “You guys on ahead, I need to visit someone.”

“Who?” Ben asked, surprised and worried since Jeff wasn’t the type to visit other people outside of his inner circle. 

Jeff smiled. “An acquaintance.” 

* * *

Johnny stared at the ceiling with a thoughtful look. Somehow, he couldn’t stop thinking about what happened today. About Helen. It should piss him off, really. Helen was his rival, stealing his victims and being an arrogant asshole (even though he himself was arrogant too). But, there was something… strange, for a lack of a better word, about him. He hasn’t told anyone about this, but when he saw Helen looking so scared, he seemed  _ small _ .

No.  _ Vulnerable _ , is the word he is looking for.

Johnny has been in this rotten world and the first unwritten rule is to never let others in. Don’t show weakness in front of the enemy,  _ do not be vulnerable _ . Johnny has never seen someone look like that. Even when Liu snapped when he saw his brother he wasn’t scared, he was angry. The reason was one that everybody knew. 

Helen on the other hand.

Johnny could see the terror on his pale face. Like he’s seen a demon. Johnny was impressed that despite all that, Helen didn’t tremble.  **At all** . If Nathan had done something so horrible even Jeff the fucking Killer wanted to slice him into pieces, then any normal person would collapse and probably bawl their eyes out. At least he thinks that.

Helen, despite the vulnerability he showed, stood firm. Well, they were sitting, but you get the idea. He didn’t cry, tremble or collapse. Perhaps he bit his nails to prevent himself from doing that. A lot of killers like themselves often did that. No, maybe even those people wouldn’t do that for that purpose. But having the majority suffer from more than one mental illness, you might never know.

Small, but stubborn.

"What's with the frown?" Johnny glanced at the door and saw Smiley leaning against the doorframe. Johnny sat up with a sigh.

"Nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing to me." Smiley said, walking towards Johnny and sitting on his roommate's bed to face Johnny. "Tell me what's wrong, I am a doctor after all." He said with a smile. 

Johnny snickered before fiddling with his fingers. "Is it-um… it's silly really."

"I won't judge."

Johnny knitted his eyebrows together. "Is it normal to suddenly feel curious about someone you hated for years?"

Smiley stared at Johnny before chuckling. "Curious in what way? Is our dear Johnny crushing on someone?"

Johnny laughed. "Fuck no!" He glanced at Smiley. "But, I guess I just want to know what happened?"

"Hm?"

"Like, I want to know their trauma?"

Smiley looked at him with a serious expression. "Johnathan, would you share your own trauma with any stranger?"

"N-No, I kno-"

"Then, would you just befriend someone just to know how fuck up they are? Would you like Helen to friend you then leave you after exposing you?"

Johnny stayed quiet. "Yeah, I guess that's an asshole move."

"There you go."

"Hey, wait," Johnny looked at him with narrowed eyes. "How did you know I was-"

"It's obvious." Smiley said with a grin. "And of course I would know, who do you think I am?"

"Right." Johnny said with a smile. Smiley chuckled before standing up with his hands on his white coat's pockets.

"Though I must warn you, his situation might be more intense than what his friends are going through." Smiley said in a serious tone before grinning and bid a confused Johnny goodbye.

* * *

"Jeff!" Nina shouted with a wide grin. "It's been a while, how have you been?"

"Same as usual, anyway, is Angel here?" 

Nina's grin faded and with a sigh, she leaned against the doorframe. "Jeff, you know she doesn't like you or Ben since-"

"I know, but I  _ need  _ to speak with her." Jeff said.

"What's so important that you need to talk to her?"

"It's… about Helen."

Nina stared at him. "Huh? Are you an idiot? You know damn well that Angel doesn't want to talk about Helen anymo-"

"It's okay, Nina." Judge Angel. She looked the same as ever, blonde short hair and pure black eyes. "I'm fine now."

Nina glanced at her worried. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Angel walked towards them and wrapped her arms around Nina's waist. Startling and making her partner blush. 

"A-Angel?"

Angel smiled softly at her. "I will be fine, since I have you now." While Nina ran to the kitchen to hide her red face, Angel and Jeff sat in the living room.

"So, what brings you here?"

"It's about Helen, well, more so about  ** _you-know-who_ ** ." Jeff said, the last part through gritted teeth. Angel closed her eyes and sighed as she intertwined her fingers together.

"Is that so?" Angel opened her eyes. "I wonder, the last time I heard about Helen was after Nathan was kicked out of Slender's territory."

"Then, let me fill in the blanks." 

* * *

Jane once heard a rumor about Nathan, about how he used to live in Slender's territory before he was kicked out of it because Jeff "didn't like him". Making Jeff be hated a lot more since it has been proven that whoever Jeff doesn't like, Slender would gladly get rid of them for him. 

Yet, there was always something that bugged Jane about that rumor. If Nathan was really wrongfully exiled, then why isn't he bothering to even fight for his house? Why is he so calm and at the mention of Jeff's name instead of anger there's a sadistic look on his eyes?

"Jane?" Sally waved a hand through Jane's eyes.

"Looks like your friend is wasted." Offender said, setting a glass of water in front of Jane. "Hope it helps."

"Thanks, Offender."

"Aw, what happened to calling me  _ Offendy _ ?" 

Sally rolled her eyes. "I'm not that young anymore."

"Lazari still calls me that and she's, what, the same age as you?"

Sally laughed. "No way, she's older." Jane blinked, forgetting Sally had invited her out. With a sigh, she gulped down the whole glass and set it down with a frown.

"Offender, you know more than any information sources we have, right?" Jane asked. Offenders topped cleaning the glass on his hands. "If you are-"

"I don't speak for free, Janey." Offender smirked. "And whatever you might ask me, I swore to keep all that I know to my grave."

"Aren't you immortal?" Sally asked with an eyebrow raised. Offender chuckled and shrugged. Jane glared at Offender, surprisingly enough he was a tough person to bribe.

"Why won't you tell me!? Aren't we your favorites?" Jane asked annoyed, slamming a hand on the barstool. 

Offender laughed. "Yes, but you aren't in first place."

"Then, who is?" Sally asked, curious to see who was Offender's favorite couple. Before he could speak, someone sat on the barstool wearing a black hoodie. Jane glanced at him, amidst the dark lit cabin and the blasting music, Jane could swear it was an average civilian.

" **One Diablo Shot** ." He spoke, Jane frowned. That voice, where could she have heard it before.

"Here you go sir." Offender passed a golden key to the stranger. He took it and headed to the basement.

Sally took a sip of her drink. "You dealing with humans now?"

Offender smirked. "Oh, but he isn't  ** _any_ ** regular human."

Jane sighed. "Forget it, I didn't want to know anyway!" She pouted and Sally just giggled before patting Jane on the head. 

* * *

Helen took a shower for the second time. He wasn’t doing anything, heck he was in with his clothes on. He just wanted to feel the cold water hit him. Helen cupped his hands for the water to pool until it was overflowing.  _ Fuck _ . He was doing so well, he was…

A knock on the bathroom door took him out of his dark ocean of thoughts. “Helen, are you okay? Can I come in?” Ben asked, the worry evident in his tone. Helen turned the water off, he wanted to speak. But all of a sudden he just wanted to be alone.

“Is Jeff back yet?”

“No.” 

“Mm.” Helen got out of the shower and forced himself to open the door. Ben gasped at the sight of a drenched Helen and quickly went for a towel as he told Helen to take off his clothes. Ah, shit. He was being useless again, wasn’t he? Just like Nathan wanted.

_ “Are you really going to let someone like that ruin you?” _

Helen took a deep breath and clenched his fists. No, he wasn’t going to fall back. That’s what Nathan wanted and there was no way in hell Helen will give that bastard the satisfaction of winning. 

* * *

When Jeff came back, Helen looked better. He might not show it on his face, but those who were close to him noticed his change. Ben glanced at Jeff and shrugged with a small smile. Jeff smirked, well, he isn’t sure what exactly happened but he’s glad his friend is back on his feet. In any case, he already knows what to do in case Helen gets like that.

“So, I’ve been thinking, I don’t think we can just waltz our way into Zalgo’s place like we have been doing.”

“Then how else are we going to get there?” Jeff asked, sitting next to Ben on the three person couch. Helen hummed and before any of them could say anything, Mr. Widemouth opened the door to their apartment. 

Mr. Widemouth had a serious look. “Slender is calling for a jurisdiction meeting.” The three friends looked at each other surprised. It’s been  _ years  _ since Slender pulled a meeting like that. Jeff tensed up, feeling like something he didn’t like would happen and knowing Slender, that was exactly the case.

They all started to walk towards the woods. Jeff looked around, the only people he recognized were the ones living in Mr. Widemouth’s apartment and Ben’s roomies. All of these new killers or monsters were people he’s never seen. And still, all of the newbies hate him because of Slender. It was to be expected anyway, but it kinda sucked anyway.

“It’s been a while since I’ve gone back to this hell hole.” Jeff mumbled in annoyance as they all stepped inside the mysterious manor in the middle of the woods. They were all led to the meeting room and as always, Jeff and his friends stood at the very back. Slender was nowhere in sight, but his proxies were at the front. Brian was talking to some people Jeff didn’t recognize while Tim and Toby were in their own world.

“You know, surprisingly I miss these meetings.” Helen said. Not a single thing has changed. Other than the fact that most OGs have gone to other territories and a shit ton of newbies joined. 

“Really? I’m glad they were done to be honest, it was just a waste of time for me.” Ben said, impatiently tapping his foot. 

Jeff frowned. What is happening? The last meeting was about a change in the join requests and that was the last time Slender held a meeting. Jeff felt his guts telling him there was something wrong. 

Then, Slender appeared right next to his proxies. The murmurs and whispers stopped. The people talking to Brian hurried to their places and the proxy couple had their full attention to whatever their boss was going to say. “ **I know it’s very late, but thanks for coming** .” Slender said. Jeff gulped and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. “ **I have been informed by a reliable source that the police have asked a special unit to help them with the homicides of this city** .”

“I don’t like where this is going.” Helen whispered and Jeff nodded. 

“ **Our source has told us that they are not to be underestimated, since they already caught one of us** .”

“Who?” Someone from the crowd asked.

Slender stayed quiet for a moment. “ **The Rake** .” Jeff straightened up, looking at Slender scared and with anger.

“What about Smile Dog!?” He shouted.

“ **He hasn’t been found yet, but according to our source he’s safe from that unit for now** .” Slender said, his tone softening when speaking to Jeff. Helen put a hand on Jeff’s shoulder as Ben glanced worriedly at his friend. Jeff was trembling, his fist clenched. No, no, Slender said he was safe. “ **As a result of this,** ” Jeff frowned, was he going to say what he thinks he’s going to say. “ ** _We are going on a lockdown_ ** .”

“What!?”

“A lockdown?”

“That’s not fair! I just joined last week.”

“Well, shit,” Helen murmured, glancing at his friends. “I never expected Slender to have us on lockdown.”

Jeff let out a sigh. “It was the only option left, so of course he would say that.”

Ben stayed quiet. There must be a way to leave without being caught, especially since they are going on a lockdown.  _ “Lucky for me, Benny can smuggle me in without being caught.”  _ Sally’s words resonated. There might be a way after all. “Guys, I think I know a way.” Ben whispered loud enough for his friends to hear. Jeff and Helen had their full attention as Slender continued to answer questions. “But I need to confirm something, can you cover for me?” Ben asked, his eyes determined.

“Sure.”

“Be quick.”

Ben nodded. “Slender, may I go to the restroom?”

Slender sighed. “ **If any of you need to go, just go, don’t ask** .” He said. Forgetting completely that Ben didn’t  _ need  _ to go since he was already dead. Ben smirked and nodded at his friends before leaving the meeting room.

“How long will we be in lockdown?”

“ **Until further notice** .”

“What will we do until then!? How can we pay the taxes when we can’t kill!?”

“ **Your taxes will be ** ** _frozen _ ** **until lockdown passes, until then, you’ll have to start looking for daytime jobs if you don’t already have one** .”

“Does that mean we can’t go to the neutral areas either!?”

“ **Correct, that’s why it’s called a lockdown** .”

Jeff sighed. “This is the worst thing that has happened.”

“I agree.” Helen said, glancing at the door. “I hope Ben is doing fine and hurry up.”

* * *

In order for Ben to travel to other places through the TV or even a tablet, Ben has to make a connection and  _ bookmark _ it so it’s easy to access it. Otherwise, he would have to spend a lot of days, even months looking to connect through a computer in someone else’s house. Ben had half his arms in the living room TV, his eyes were now completely blue with static. 

Ben blinked. “Found it.” He said, his eyes going back to normal before he threw himself into the TV.

* * *

“Come on Lorena, tell Marco Antonio you love him.” Johnny said, his eyes stuck to the TV in the entertainment area. LJ was eating popcorn and Kagekao, mask off, was drinking wine as he also ate popcorn from the bowl LJ had made them in. 

“Lorena fits better with Luis Miguel.” LJ commented. Johnny glared at him.

In that moment, the program was interrupted by static and the three gasped. “Oh no! What is happening!?”

“Is it broken? EJ is going to nag us.” LJ said, tearing up already while Kagekao mumbled anxiously in japanese. Then, Ben’s half body was out of the TV. Three pairs of eyes stared at Ben’s red ones.

“Ha, I did it!”

“Ben?” LJ raised an eyebrow. Ben only smiled before going back into the TV. The program was back on, showing Lorena crying in the room and Marco Antonio was nowhere to be seen.

Johnny took a deep breath. “What the actual fuck!?” He shouted.

* * *

Ben was back, making Jeff and Helen relieved as the meeting was almost over. “Did it work?” Jeff whispered and Ben nodded with a triumphant smile. Helen and Jeff looked at each other with wide grins. 

“ **Well then, that’s enough questions, this meeting is dismissed** .” 

* * *

There was an emergency meeting in the abandoned hospital. Johnny gulped as he saw Zalgo walk in and sat down with them. Once everyone was there, EJ stood up and walked to the center of the room. “We have been informed by one of our allies that the Slender territory is currently on lockdown.”

“Lockdown!?” Jason shouted with wide eyes. Zalgo’s face remained neutral. 

“According to them, a  _ special unit _ has been put near their jurisdiction, making them unable to act.”

“But, they’ve dealt with the police before,” Liu said, raising an eyebrow skeptical. “Why are they doing this for a unit?”   


EJ stayed quiet for a moment. “They… have caught one of us.”

“What!?” Jason shouted in shock. “Who?”

Dr. Smiley glanced at the floor, for the newbies it might be nothing. But those who have been killing for a long time, it’s scary to think that you might get caught. EJ glanced at Dr. Smiley before sighing. “The Rake.”

Johnny widened his eyes. “Isn’t he-”

“An OG like me, yes.” EJ said, his expression grim. Though, Zalgo still had a neutral facade. 

“So, will this prevent our plan?” Zalgo asked, feeling as though that’s not the only thing Jack wanted to say. He shook his head.

“No, in fact, one of our allies has found a way to sneak into our place without going out.” 

“Good.” Zalgo sighed. Secretly, he was relieved. He stood up and looked at Jack right into his eye sockets. “We can’t afford to relax, just because that unit is currently sniffing in Slender’s place doesn’t mean they won’t go around sniffing us or the neutral areas.”

“That is true, after all, The Rake was living in neutral land.” Dr. Smiley said, looking up.

Zalgo nodded. “Which is why we need to stay alert.”

“Are we going on lockdown too?” 

“No, we just need to be smarter and stay alert.” Zalgo said. Liu nodded. “Well then, I wished you all the best of luck.” Zalgo said, walking out of the meeting as a sign to dismiss it as well. Everyone let out a breath, but glanced at each other warily. This was the first time the local police had asked for a unit for help. Jack frowned, he has a bad feeling about this. 

* * *

Johnny had gone out to buy some groceries, drinking the special  _ potion _ given to them by Zalgo. It was hard to think that this week Christmas was coming. They don’t celebrate it, but he’s seen others do the Santa exchange and some give gifts to their partners. To be honest, Johnny found that lonely. He wasn’t a big fan, but even one gift was cool. He guessed.

_ Maybe I should buy a gift for myself _ . Johnny thought. He was so lost on what he could possibly gift himself that he accidentally bumped carts with someone. “Oh shit, sorry.”

“Ugh, it’s you.” Johnny perked up at that voice and blinked. Helen was, apparently, shopping too. Though he wasn’t alone, like Johnny. Jeff was next to him, hiding his scars with a black mask.

“Oh, you’re the one that lives with Jack, right?” Jeff asked. 

Johnny blinked.  _ Didn’t we talk already before?  _ He thought. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Can you give a message to him?”

“Uh, sure.”

“215 987 231.” Helen glanced at him with an eyebrow raised. Johnny blinked and mentally cursed. He wasn’t sure to remember that kind of message, what the fuck was that anyway? Some sort of mathematical morse code?

“He needs to write that down, can’t you see that he’s a moron?”

Johnny felt the left corner of his lip and eye twitch. “I can remember that!”

“Oh really? Repeat the numbers then.”

“215 987 231.” Johnny said with a smirk. Helen hummed with an unamused look before turning away.

“He’ll forget it on the way, let’s continue Jeff.”

“Hey!” Johnny called out annoyed. Jeff glanced back at Johnny.

“Make sure to tell him as soon as you see him.” Jeff said, pointing his finger at him before catching up to Helen. Johnny sighed, repeating the numbers on his mind as he continued his shopping. Though he would bump into Helen sometimes and they would always bicker.

Much to Johnny’s dismay, Helen was on the same line as him to pay. Johnny decided to ignore him as he waited for the old lady in front of him to pay. Johnny glanced at Helen over his shoulder. He was talking with Jeff. Johnny has to admit that compared to the last time, Helen seemed better. “What are you staring at?” Helen asked annoyed.

Johnny clicked his tongue. “How ugly you are, no wonder you use a mask.” He said while he almost got hit with Helen’s cart. After he paid, he turned towards Helen one more time. The painter was already glaring at him while Jeff slowly took out his wallet. “Well, at least you look better than last time.” He said before quickly escaping from the store.

Jeff looked at Johnny leave with surprise before glancing back at Helen, who was as shocked as him. “Looks like you are no longer a poker face master.”

“Shut up.”

“Alright, alright.” 

* * *

“Welcome back.” Jack greeted Johnny as he came back from the store. He helped the puppeteer with some of the bags and set them on the kitchen where LJ was chatting with Dr. Smiley. 

“Ah, right on time.” Dr. Smiley said, walking to the bags and getting the food and other stuff out. LJ started to help him put the food in its place. Jack was going back to his office, but Johnny caught up to him.

“Hey, Jack?”

“Hm, what’s up?”

“Uh, so, I ran into Jeff and Helen at the store.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but that’s not important, Jeff sent a message to you.”

Jack hummed amused. “I’m all ears.” 

Johnny glanced away nervously. What were the numbers again? Oh, right! “215 987 231?” Jack blinked. He stared at Johnny for one solid minute before grinning widely and patting Johnny on the shoulder.

“Thanks for the message.” Jack said before walking to his office in a strange uplifted mood. Johnny just stood there confused and for two reasons. Jack really understood what those numbers menat? And holy shit! Did Jack  _ grin _ ? It wasn’t a smirk like usual?

Johnny sighed. “Those two have been weird since they met.”

* * *

Helen leaned on the doorframe of Jeff’s room as he listened to a Gorillaz album on his portable CD player. “I can’t believe you gave your number to that guy.” Helen said, shaking his head. Jeff rolled his eyes before putting his special eye drops. 

“I don’t use it at all and since we are going to be on lockdown, I can just annoy him whenever I want.”

“We are still going to meet with them, right?”

“That, I don’t know.” Jeff said, sitting up and pausing as he takes off his earphones. “See? Sharing my phone number was a good idea after all.” Jeff smirked and Helen sighed before sitting on the bed.

“Yeah right, it never crossed your mind at all.” Helen said. Before Jeff could answer, his burner phone started to ring and a sudden rush of excitement filled his chest as he cleared his throat before answering the phone.

“You sure took your sweet ass time.” Jeff said, smiling widely. Helen shook his head, the only thing he was seeing was a dog happily wailing his tail. An ugly ass dog mind you.

Meanwhile, on the other line of the phone, Jack chuckled and tapped the desk with his thumb. “Well,  _ someone _ made me buy a phone in order to call.”

_ “You could have just called from a street phone.” _

“And miss the chance to save the grandiose phone number of the notorious Jeff the Killer? No way!”

Jeff laughed at the other side of the line, Jack closed his eyes.  _ “I guess I’ll allow you to have my number.” _

“Oh, what an honor.” They laughed. “In any case, you have mine now and we can contact each other in case something happens.”

_ “Right, by the way, are we still doing the operation?” _

“Of course, you aren’t going to escape from me that easily.”

_ “What a shame.” _

Jack snickered. “Same time tomorrow.”

_ “Got it.” _

“You haven’t encountered anyone from that unit, right?” Jack asked. A faint ‘mhm’ was heard. Jack tightened his grip on the phone. “If you get caught before we can even do something, I’ll laugh at you before killing you myself.”

Jeff smiled. Understanding the intent behind those words.  _ “Not even in your wildest dreams will I, the great Jeff, be caught by anyone not even you.”  _ Jack laughed, receiving the message. He glanced at the file he had of Slender, the constant reminder that he shouldn’t go over the line since he still needed to meet up with someone. 

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

_ “Sure.”  _ Jeff said before hanging up. Jack set his phone down and sighed. Hopefully the unit leaves soon so they can get things faster.

* * *

_ A sharp knife laid on the table in front of his eyes. His lover behind him, staring at him. Helen felt like trembling, but dug his nails into his arms to prevent it. Helen stared blankly at the weapon laid in front of him. Nathan snickered and put his arms on Helen’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, it would be like the first time we took an oath to Slender, but this time the oath is between us.” _

* * *

Helen sat down in front of his white canvas, he didn't bother to prepare any paint. He couldn’t even use a pencil to sketch first. Helen’s fingertips touch the canvas lightly before standing up and leaving the room. He took his coat with him and knocked on Jeff’s door before opening it. “Are you done talking with your boyfriend?”

Jeff, who went back to listening to Gorillaz, frowned. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Anyway, I’m going out for a walk.”

“Mhm, be careful.” Jeff said, rolling to his left side and give his back to Helen. Helen closed the door and walked out of the apartment. It’s been a while, but he decided to take a walk in the woods. It’s not like the only one who could set foot in them was Jeff anyway, but it sure did bring Helen memories he wanted to forget. The worst part is that they weren’t bad ones. It was one of the few times he was at ease and like a fool let his guard down once too many times.

“Why the long face, my friend?” Helen blinked and stopped walking. A man with wavy dark hair and dark eyes was leaning against a tree. He was looking at Helen with a smirk and narrowed his eyes. 

Helen looked at him cautiously. It wasn’t weird for civilians to walk in the woods too, but normally they are always with someone since Slender’s presence has caused rumors amongst the city. “Just personal problems.

“Oh? I can lend an ear, I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”

Helen shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t feel like sharing with a stranger.”

The man laughed. “It’s okay, I won’t judge.”

“Even if you don’t, I’m not feeling like sharing.” Helen said with a sigh. He was going to walk away but the man spoke again.

“What a shame, in that case, what can you tell me about the  _ urban legends _ around here? You know, like that tall monster that lives here.” At that, Helen froze dead on his tracks. For a split second, Helen hada shocked and paranoiac expression but turned back into his poker face when he turned back to face the man again.

“Urban legends? I don’t believe in such things.”

The man chuckled, a glint of something Helen couldn’t decipher was reflected on his eyes. “Is that so? Then, I guess you won’t be able to help me.”

“Seems so.”

“But, in the slight chance that you  _ do  _ change your mind, here’s my contact.” The man said, walking towards Helen and giving him a contact card info. The name on the card was ‘ _ Viktor S. Lewis _ ’ below that was a phone number.

Helen glanced at the man. "May I ask, why are you so interested in urban legends? Are you a so-called paranormal investigator?"

Viktor smiled, but his eyes didn't seem to coordinate with his lips. "Let's say that I am, yeah."

Helen prevented himself from gulping. "Well, let me tell you that you are just wasting your time." 

Viktor shrugged. "I don't know about that, after all, seeing is believing." He said with a sinister smile. Helen kept the card in the pocket of his jacket. 

"If you say so."

"Have a nice day." Viktor said as Helen walked away from there. Once he was out of the woods, he started running back to the apartment.

* * *

Christmas Eve was going to be on Friday. Jeff stared at the abyss as he listened to the last track of his Gorillaz album. The music and lyrics no longer could stay in his mind, Jeff was somewhere else. His body was there, sure, but his mind was going back to old memories. Mostly of his family, when his parents were alive and his brother didn’t hate him.

Jeff goes back to all the christmas parties he’s spent with his family up to when he committed murder. His first Christmas before Liu, after Liu, the Christmas where Jeff and Liu had to spend it in the hospital because their father had broken a leg during his work. All of those colorful and pure memories that no longer fitted the killer.

For a long time now, he hasn’t been able to spend Christmas with his brother. After all, his parents can no longer come back. Ah, the song had already ended minutes ago. Jeff takes off his headphones and curls up in his bed. Was it worth it? 

What he did was right, wasn’t it? He chose the right path. He  _ must have _ , right?

Maybe… 

Maybe it was time to-

“Jeff!” Helen’s voice snapped Jeff out of his thoughts. Jeff cleared his throat as he sat up and watched Helen come into his room with a panicked look on his face. Jeff sighed internally. Yup, he chose the right path.

* * *

Inhuman screeching resonated inside an isolated room. Though, its cries didn’t reach anyone. A certain dog carefully glanced around before whimpering and looking at the eerie building where a certain group of humans had his friend locked away. Even from here, Smile Dog could hear the laments of his friend and how scared to death he was. Smile Dog can detect pain in his screeches, but hopefully it’s due to the fear and not because there was any physical harm.

_ “I promise to come back for you!”  _ barked one last time Smile Dog before sprinting off to the only place where he was sure to get help. It’s been a long while, Smile Dog wonders how his best friend has been?

* * *

Viktor S. Lewis, someone that is part of the special unit in charge of getting rid of them. Jeff hummed in thought. The question is,  _ what  _ exactly is his position? Is he the leader or just a henchman? It must be close to noon and neither of them have had a wink of sleep. Though it was normal for them to suffer insomnia from time to time. Now that they can sneak out, it was worth asking Jack about this.

Jeff chuckled. Hopefully the hours pass by quickly, it was fun to talk to the cannibal after all. Helen was about to make coffee when a familiar set of barks and scratching of the door took the killers’ attention. Jeff abruptly stood up and walked towards the door. He glanced at Helen before opening the door, a black and red dog with the widest grin pounced on Jeff, tackling him to the ground.

“Smile Dog!” Jeff cried in joy as his best friend barked and licked his face. Jeff laughed as Helen closed the door and secretly smiled that his friend was reunited with his pet. 

“Yo.” Helen said, once Smile Dog got off Jeff and the killer sat up. Smile Dog barked/greeted Helen back. Jeff didn’t allow himself to cry, not yet at least. Once he and Smile Dog went to his room, Jeff didn’t hesitate to go down and hug Smile tightly. Smile Dog whined and licked Jeff’s left side of his face as tears started to roll down his eyes. 

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Jeff sighed before wiping his own tears with a laugh and petting his companion. “I heard Rake was caught, did you see what happened?” Smile dog barked one time, meaning yes. “I’m sorry about your friend.” 

Smile Dog whined before nuzzling closer to his owner. Jeff looked at Smile Dog with knitted eyebrows before hugging his companion once again. “It’s okay, we’ll set him free somehow.” Jeff murmured against its fur. Smile Dog whined one last time before setting his head on Jeff’s shoulder. At last, the ‘ _ smiling duo _ ’ was back together. Though, either of them would have appreciated it in different situations.

* * *

Viktor came back from interviewing a few local people about the urban legends and also about the fact that multiple serial killers might be hiding in the city or not. There were a few people like the gentleman he met in the woods earlier this morning who did not believe in creatures like the “Slender Man” or “Seedeater”. Others who might believe in it too much to the point where they say it was a failed government experiment sent to the city to eat all of the civilians and create a  _ “radioactive” _ ghost town like Chernobyl.

The police station looked as grim as when he first arrived yesterday night. It was understandable since none of them, despite their so called best efforts has managed to catch a single serial killer. Not even the most wanted and the most grotesque when it comes to killing, Jeffrey Woods.

Had they not talked to the family survivor when he was still recovering at the hospital, they probably wouldn’t know his name. Though, some people were already calling him the ‘Smiley Face Killer’ and his absolute favorite, ‘Cheshire Killer’.

“Hey.” Viktor greeted his friend and partner for this special case. A man a little shorter than him with long white hair tied in a low ponytail and mismatching colored eyes glanced at his friend with narrowed eyes.

“Did you buy it?”

“Not even a single hello?” Viktor laughed as he handed a small paper bag with a single biscuit inside. “How’s the investigation going?”

“Nothing much, just shady paranormal forums with he said/she said and shitty blurry pictures of the supposed sightings.”

“At least you aren’t stuck with boring criminal profiles we have been studying for the last years~” 

“Nobody asked, Al.”

“True, but I’m just stating my opinion, Oliver.”

“Now, now,” Viktor laughed. “We’re doing an important job here.”

“How did the interviews go?” Al asked, raising an eyebrow while having a hopeful smile. Viktor sighed and shook his head.

“They either think we’re behind them or that they don’t exist.”

“What about our killers?”

“Oh, they are here alright.” Viktor said, remembering how he spoke to two families whose daughters were murdered by Jeff. Following his rushed pattern whenever he gets cornered and then going silent for a while. “Besides, catching monsters might be easier than catching humans.”

Al shrugged. “That’s true, we already caught one anyway.”

“I can’t believe that thing actually exists.” Oliver sighed as he took a bite of his biscuit. Viktor sat down next to Oliver and helped his friend to see which “rumors” might be a lead. Al sighed as he continued to re-read the same files of their current serial killers. Heck, even Diane and Lou’s work was more fun than this. Hm? There’s something missing.

* * *

Helen plopped down on his bed, feeling tired and sleepy now. He glanced at the untouched sketchbook sitting atop of his drawer. Lockdown sucks, perhaps he'll take that as an opportunity to try and draw a little. Even if it's just the landscape of the city.

Helen closed his eyes. Yeah, tomorrow he will do that.

* * *

Nathan let out a long sighed, his breath visible in the cold air of the evening. He was bored out of his mind. The person who used to play with him is no longer with him and this time for good. Though, Nathan takes pleasure in knowing that he still has an effect on Helen. He tries his best to hide it, but Nathan can see right through him. 

“Aren’t you cold?” Pain asked, opening the door and glancing down at Nathan sitting on the porch.

Nathan shrugged. “I just wanted to clear my mind.”

“I see.”

“Christmas is this week, huh?”

“Yup and the year is almost over too.” Pain said with a smile. “Time sure flies fast, huh?” Nathan disagreed. The year had been painfully long, he barely even got to enjoy it. Or, it could be that life was never the same since Helen wasn’t there with him. It just went back to being boring.

Nathan sighed internally. “I want for the year to be over already.”

“Haha, I know.” Pain said, glancing up at the sun setting. “I wonder what surprises we will see next year as well.”

“Well, hopefully they are exciting ones, I’m so bored.”

Pain chuckled. “Well, I’m about to make dinner. Would you like to help?” Nathan shrugged before standing up and following Dr. Pain inside. 

* * *

“Hey.” Johnny said awkwardly as Helen stood up and dusted himself off from getting out of the TV like Ben is used to doing. The painter glanced at him before ignoring him. Johnny took a deep breath before sighing and following everyone to the meeting room. Slender’s side might be on lockdown and the proxies can finally rest (Although Kagekao is glad for this, he is back to being sad over not seeing Brian), but aside from the scouting allies teams, the rest had to stay and help Jack with a plan.

Jeff, Helen noticed, seemed a little pouty and annoyed that there were more people with them. Helen snickered. “A head on attack could work, I mean, we just corner him and his proxies and we can make our demands.” Johnny said, trying to give something to the conversation.

“ **It wouldn’t work** .” Helen and Jeff said in unison, both with annoyed looks on their faces as they glanced at Johnny.  _ “Well, geez, I was just trying to contribute” _ Johnny thought as he glared at Helen before sighing and resting his cheekbone on his right fist. 

“Why wouldn’t it?” LJ asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Helen was about to speak, but Jeff raised a hand to him. Helen nodded. “Slender might seem impulsive at first, but he is not an OG and used to be the most respected and feared for nothing.”

“Meaning?”

“He has eyes everywhere, whether the newbies or anyone living there like it or not, if someone wanted to attack Slender head on, we are obligated to tell Slender about it.”

“So? We just convince the people to stay quiet.”

“Are you listening? We are  _ obligated _ to tell, it’s on our contract and we can not physically break it either.” Helen scoffed. Johnny tried his best not to snap back and counted to ten. 

Jack tapped the wooden table with his thumb. “Then how come you can be here?”

“There’s a loophole in the contract.” Jeff said, resting his chin on his right palm. He frowned and glanced down at the table. “Slender is not stupid, so betraying him is obviously taking into consideration, but it’s what  _ he  _ thinks as betrayal that matters.”

Helen nodded. “In the contract it says that if we were to live in the Slender territory whilst still being in a contract with Zalgo, it’s already forbidden for that killer to enter his side as it is obvious that the person is acting as a spy.”

“If you leave out of the blue leave without breaking the contract, even if it’s to a neutral land, it is considered as betrayal.”

“And lastly, if you conspire against Slender right under his nose, it counts as betrayal.”

Kagekao hummed. “Aren’t you three conspiring though?”

Jeff smirked. “Yeah, but that’s the loophole.” Everyone raised looked at the two dark haired killers in confusion. Helen chuckled and glanced at his friend with a smirk. “It says right under his nose, which means conspiring against him in his own territory.”

“It doesn’t say anything about conspiring somewhere else.”

“Oh I remember, it was implemented after some newbies tried to dethroned him.” EJ said, a sudden flashback on how everyone was called to renew the contract as a new addition had been added.

LJ raised his hand. “Excuse me, I would like to know what you mean by physically obligated to tell?”

Jeff leaned back against the chair as he crossed his arms. “Slender is not human and although I don’t know how he does it, he makes us obey him or else we pay with a part of our bodies.”

“Ben was almost killed that way, his  _ physical spot _ is his neck.” Helen said, frowning while Jeff had a blank stare. EJ noticed the behaviour of Jeff, he’s never seen that expression on him. 

“Wait, how can he die if he’s already dead?” Kagekao asked, scratching his head.

“Well-”

“We are not obligated to tell you that.” Jeff said, though his blank stare remained. “And we won’t tell you ours either, but each killer has its own spot.”

“Even the proxies have it.” Helen said. Johnny whistled. Slender’s contracts and punishment sound awful, how can people decide to live there? Well, it must be because at the time, Slender was the only “strong one” around here before Zalgo showed up. Johnny has heard rumors that before anyone else could come to the city of devils as it has been dubbed thanks to the high homicide rate and disappearances everyone has brought, Zalgo and Slender would fight over who will have full control over the whole city.

Rumor has it that it was a human who, after finding out about their existence, told them that it was impossible. That if the people so wished to, they could call the government and have them be tested like if they were aliens from Mars. The human said that each one of them will have their own areas, make their own rules but in exchange, they would have to settle for having two neutral areas. The human wanted for the neutral areas to be free of killing, but ultimately that was the only thing neither kept as promised.

“So, how does that tie in to not being able to do a head on attack?” Kagekao asked, annoyed and not understanding well what the fuck was being talked about.

“Slender is strong, so he can actually handle multiple attacks even when cornered and after getting rid of the intruders, he would punish all of us if we all decided to just let it happen and not tell him.”

“That sucks.”

“What can we say? The bastard has gotten better at working under pressure.” Helen huffed. Johnny was lost in thought for a moment. Even if the people under Slender rebel, due to the contract, it would count as betrayal and they would suffer the consequences. But, what if people who are  _ not  _ under contract attack him?

“If only there was some way to smuggle a lot of people.” Johnny mumbled. Jeff and EJ glanced at Johnny surprised before they glanced at each other. They silently stared at each other as if they were telepathically communicating. Are they thinking what Johnny is thinking?

“Johnathan, what do you have in mind?” EJ asked, glancing at the puppeteer with a smirk. As if he already knows what Johnny was about to say. 

“Um… I was thinking that, since no one over there can rebel against Slender because of the contract, I was thinking what if people who are not under one attack him? Sure he might be strong, but at least they have the advantage that Slender doesn’t have their physical weakness.”

Jeff laughed. “That’s so?”

Helen glanced at him surprised. “Wow, that’s the first smart thin you have said since I got here.”

“Shut the fuck up, nobody asked your opinon.”

“There is a way, so long as there’s a TV or a computer, Ben and his other friends can smuggle them in.”

“The only thing that we should look out for is when they get out of our apartment or someone else’s, if a group goes out all at once it would look suspicious.”

“Well, that sounds like a plan to me, don’t you think mister kidnapper?”

“It needs to be polished a little, but I agree, my dear victim.” EJ said, glancing at Jeff and both of them smirking at each other. When everyone came back, they told the pseudo-plan to the rest and everyone came in agreement to it. It was time for their allies to go and Smiley nudged Johnny. Johnny clicked his tongue and cleared his throat before approaching Helen.

“Hey, uh, I know we are rivals and um, we had our differences, but since we are going to work together, why don’t we try to get along?” Johnny said, giving Helen his hand for a handshake. Helen blinked and stared at him incredulously. Behind the painter, his friends were snickering and looking at Helen, waiting expectantly for what his answer would be.

Helen’s face went back to being stoic, but inside his mind was panicking. This approach was awkward and seemed sincere, but Helen isn’t sure on expanding his inner circle and the more he stared at Johnny, the more he felt his ears become warm. “Huh? Why would I try to get along with a moron like you? Fuck no, see ya.” Was what Helen ended up saying before hurrying his friends to the TV as they laughed.

EJ tried to contain his laugh by fake coughing and patted Johnny on the back. The others were laughing their asses off as Johnny was still processing what just happened. Johnny blinked, before he clenched his fists, started trembling out of anger and felt a warm rush in his cheeks. “Whatever! Who wanted to be friends with him anyway? He can kiss my ass for all I care!” Johnny huffed before storming off to his rooms with a strange weight on his chest.

Smiley sighed. “Oh boy.” He said, before walking to the garden behind the hospital. Things are barely getting started, but Smiley has the feeling that at the end of the day, he will be the one to clean up the mess everyone else is bound to make. He sighed. “God fucking damn it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** And with this, we will now be stepping into the first arc, yay! **

**Author's Note:**

> ** If you'll excuse me I'll just *Yeets into the void* **


End file.
